Super Mario Bros: Black
by Anacondable
Summary: A reimagining of the Super Mario Bros. video game series, starting from Donkey Kong and ending with Luigi's Mansion after which the brothers return to Earth. The first act is based upon the original movie script and BioShock Infinite, the second act on The Pirates film series and every act after that borrows from the video games. Will also feature the Koopalings and Rosalina.
1. Chapter 1

Think of the characters as if there were played by these actors:

* Mario - Joseph Gordon Levitt

* Luigi - Garrett Hedlund

* Daisy - Anna Kendrick

* King Koopa - Dennis Hopper

* Peach - Christina Hendricks

* Toadsworth - Al Pacino

* Dane. T - Tom Cruise

* Spike Koopa - Scoot McNairy

* Ludwig von Koopa - Miles Teller

* Wendy Koopa - Saorise Ronan

* Iggy Koopa - Logan Lerman

1992 - Brooklyn

It was just another Gothic Church in Brooklyn, the spires being lighted up in glorious silhouettes. The rain was heavy, pouring down hard through the white sky of clouds. The gutters of the church were overpouring and the rain was gathering up in several small, some interconnected, puddles. A young woman ran breathlessly across the streets, holding a tiny bundle in her hands. Glancing back constantly, she banged on the door as hard as she could muster. Placing the bundle right in front of the door, which opened inwards, it was protected for the rain and cold. Running off, she barely noticed the flaring headlights and skidding cars as she desperately tried to make her way across the street. She darted down the stairs into a closed off and abandoned subway entrance, used only by bums and archaeologists, both of whom hadn't used it in several years.

Running down the tracks frantically, she fell a few times, scraping her knees on some of the rusted iron. She refused to even let out a mumble. The pipes above her, old and dry, dripped slightly acidic water. Then she made it, to some old boards which she had crawled through last time. Pulling them off she did not have time to mind the splinters. There she made it to an abandoned tunnel, the beams holding it up were rotting, fungal and the moss over the floor boards was mroe visible than the termite infested oak. Running towards the mineral formation at the end of the tunnel, she suddenly found herself unable to breathe and found herself up in the air. Then she saw him and trembled in fear, General Koopa, the Kerog of the Dark Land, was clutching her throat and holding her in the air. He overtook her easily, his gaze intense, his visage handsome but his grip deadly.

Wrenching free, she kicked the support beam closest to Koopa. The rock formations above them began to collapse. Her move was a suicide one, a hope that Koopa would perish with her. It was her last act. The ceiling caved in but none would notice, after all nobody but bums and archaeologists used the tunnel, and both hadn't used it for several years.

* * *

The nuns began to unwrap the bundle with excitement. It had been a long time since somebody had dropped off a child in such a manner, even then, they always had the parents with them. Dropping off a child in this manner was strange. As they pulled the bundle open they were confused. It was a child, a beautiful baby girl wearing a necklace with a red gleaming stone with a small flower design on it. But most of her was wrapped around in an egg, a giant egg big enough to fit her. It did not look fake, not at all. The child's small and tiny hand reached out to the nun's finger and she looked for the first time into the child's beautiful emerald eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

**Brooklyn - 2014**

Driving the van, Mario, 35 and growing a mustache, was doing it fast, faster than anything. His younger brother, Luigi, 2**5**, was obviously not comfortable with his brother's driving, not happy at all. Frustrated, he burst out: "Mario, why the hell did you have to sell Donkey Kong? The ape was racking in the dough. This job is not worth dying over!"

"Pauline said it was an emergency!" Mario declared.

"So what, she lives next to a plumber that isn't us!" Luigi protested. "A plumber who owns a corporation larger than even dad did! A plumber whose got more than just cell phones and panel trucks, he's got new ASUS GPS computers and dispatchers. What's the worst that can happen, lets just do the small jobs. It's not like we're broke or anything, the monkey did get us publicity and money. I mean, in a few weeks our other trucks and dispatcher's will arrive. Grace, Gene and the boys'll do a good enough job alone, let's just take a vacation! You're driving like a manic!"

"Pauline said it was an emergency!" Mario declared, again.

"The monkey is not going to break out of a crate on it's way back to Kong Island with it's kid, again, to attack you!" Luigi cried out.

Arriving in front of her apartment, Mario groaned out in frustration. It was the Rescue Rooter's Truck right out there. Pauline met Mario in front of the truck, "You guys're too late. I told the landlady you guys could handle their problems, Doug was out on a different job. I didn't think he'd be back soon enough."

"Ah, that's okay," Mario waved it off. "How're you doing, now that all this publicity is finally fading... are you all right?"

"We can talk about that later," Pauline said bluntly. "Hey Luigi. See you later guys."

As they drove off, Luigi heard the Rooter's dispatcher, a job at the River's Cafe. "Let's head there," he suggested, and they were off. "Times change Mario, pretty soon we'll all be 2014 as well. Hell, maybe if we learn a trick or two from the Rooter's we can hi the heights like dad did."

"Luigi, dad had values!" Mario protested as he drove. "He had values and that was what kept us alive."

"Now what kept us alive was the monkey you won when you thought you wanted to be a circus maestro," Luigi answered. "That is what payed off Big Eddie and the loan sharks. Mario we need disregard a value or two, learn a trick or four and get a big score."

* * *

By the East River, at that exact same time, an excavation sponsored by Canelli Construction was in progress. It was a project that had gained significant attention over the past few months, primarily by groups deemed "rednecks" by the general populace. These groups, whom the public claimed to have no place in the city, had been protesting the entire time. Living true to their name, they had been drinking and threatening violence, but the threats were empty as ever. They were protesting the pollution affects it could have on the river, a viable concern, but the fact that actual environmentalists cared little, due to the fact that they knew the tools used by Canelli, made the situation even more preposterous. That may have been a picket line, but actual construction workers were picketing the site. It was a project that Canelli and Columbia University were doing in conjunction to help the archaeology students. The academics present at the site were constantly checking up and consulting their clipboards, studying, bagging and tagging rare rocks, fossils and minerals. Walking out of the main tunnel being excavated, one that had collapsed at least twenty years prior, was clearly the most beautiful woman on the site: Daisy.

As she walked out of the tunnel, the crystal pendent on her neck, tied up by a leather cord, flared as the sun hit it. Shining brightly, she quickly advanced into broad daylight. Here eyes were emerald, haunting but surprisingly comforting and amazing. A fellow student came up to her and asked of a bone. She answered 'hadrosaur' almost immediately. All of this came to her almost instantaneously, it was like she was meant to do this, study the bones of the real Jurassic Park. Of course she was also very interested in botany and worked in a florist's shop. She hated being alone, though working part time at a florist's shop and as a waitress just to get by and pay for her university tuition. Most of her friends didn't even have jobs, they relied on their parents for stuff like that.


	3. Chapter 3

The two brothers drove their truck to the cafe, hardly talking after their little discussion. What was going on between them was more than just differing ideals on how to do business, it was on how Luigi was rebelling on how he was raised. It was on Mario still trying to be the good son, loyal, taking the punishment and refusing to butt heads with his father even after the man was gone. Mostly, it was the fact that Mario could not accept fame and fortune for simply doing what he believed to be his duty, despite the fact that it would have saved his business. It was about Luigi accepting it on Mario's behalf behind him.

Luigi glanced longingly out the window, mostly at the skyscrapers and how he wanted to live at their top floor. Then he looked to the curb, it was where, because he could not get all the money the mayor was offered to give Mario, they were. Then his view was distracted and his line of thought broken because he saw her. She was heading in the same direction, so her back was to him and when he saw her face it was only a flash - but it was enough. "Woah, did you see her?" he asked Mario, astonished, hoping he could get Mario to stop the truck, but it was his response that put him off.

"Who? The girl? Yeah, she's nice," he said very quickly and in an uncaring fashion. Obviously he was still upset about their spat.

"More than just nice Mario," Luigi responded. "She is a vision!" To that, he only got a sigh. He knew what his brother thought, that he should be focused on his job right now and trying to help the business instead of chase girls.

In about a minute they arrived at the Rivers Cafe: it had a high tech kitchen full of gleaming surfaces, metal pans and simmering sauce pans. It was almost like the Hard Rock Cafe. The underchefs were testing the sauces right under the critical and all-seeing eyes of the chefs. Waiters and waitresses were coming in and out of the doors with plates full and empty, clean and dirty and even broken. Taken to the broken machine by the assistant manager, Pascal, Mario very quickly got his hands dirty and feet sticking out of an industrial sized washing machine. Water was overflowing from the machine and the spillage was all over the floor.

Luigi's attention, well, as usual it was anywhere but there. Elsewhere he spotted her, an amazing waitress, well, at least from behind. She was a waitress at the cafe, wearing a white blouse, black stockings and an equally black skirt. Then, as she turned around to pick up a tray Luigi was astonished to see it was the same girl he spotted on the road. Her eyes locked on Luigi's for a brief second and for the splitsecond, he blushed and smiled.

"Can you fix it - or should I call another plumber?" the manger, Pascal, asked. He was an uptight Frenchman who worshipped himself way too much. He was waiting way too impatiently tapping his feet as Mario came out from underneath the machine.

"Eh?" Mari grunted. "Okay, first things first: first off - we ain't plumbers. We're specialized contractors fixing in home repair, water management and water supply systems. Second off, your hose is shot. So, you'll need a new impeller and chances are, you'll need a new motor as well."

"I don't know what any of that means," Pascal frowned. "Can you fix it?"

"It means it'll take two hours, minimum," Mario answered. He turned to Luigi and like a surgeon to a head nurse, asked, "Wrench?"

"Five-eights?"

"Check!"

Luigi tossed to his brother's hands, his eyes focused out the kitchen window on the waitress.

She was giving an order to two men sitting in a place of the restaurant referred to as Siberia. For a second Luigi thought he saw one of them flick a long tongue, like that of a lizard. She then re-entered the kitchen to give an order to the sous-chef, unaware that Luigi's eyes were on her. "Two seafood sausages, one tarragon chicken, penna primavera...," the list she collected rambled on.

"Did you hear that?" Luigi, astonished again, whispered to Mario. "She speaks Italian."

"Those are food orders and maybe if you helped out here you could learn something!" Mario grumbled. LUigi looked at his brother. He was just as good a plumber, and an even better haggler. It just was not his fault that Mario did not want him doing either of those two things, and then complaining when he tried one. Luigi let the thoughts leave his mind, he kept watching the waitress as her feet slipped off of the wet floor. Flinging an arm out to try and regain balance, she instead stumbled against a counter where stacks of China were waiting to be washed. In an instant they crashed to the floor and with immense noise, splintered all over the place.

Luigi went quickly to extend a hand over to help the waitress, helping her up, their eyes met. "You okay, miss?" he asked, with sincere concern.

"Merde alors!" Pascal cried out. "What have you done you stupid girl!" Daisy opened her mouth to respond, but Luigi pushed her behind him.

"It wasn't her!" he quickly stated. "I did it."

"Do you know what those plates cost us!" Pascal roared, the francophone's voice getting louder by the decibel.

"Take it off what you owe us!" Luigi exclaimed.

"WHAT?" Mario asked, looking up from his work.


	4. Chapter 4

Then there were only two cars left in the cafe of the Rivers Cafe, the Mario Bros truck and unknown rental in which two shady figures sat. Mario glared at Luigi as they approached the truck, he looked disappointed and above all, just pissed off. "Luigi, what the hell was that?" he asked angrily. Usually Luigi would just look down at the ground accept what was coming to him, but right now, he just looked back at his older brother. A rift had been growing in between them for a while now. "We work for them for three hours and what happens, we end up owing them fifty seven dollars?"

"Oh come on, after everything with Kong-!" Luigi tried to say but his brother quickly cut him off.

"Shut up about Kong! You'll never know what that means!" he angrily stated, prepared to knock out his brother. He could not though, no matter how much Mario thought he could, deep down he knew he could not even touch Luigi out of love. "Luigi, if you were anyone else, Gene... just give me a name... you would be down on the floor begging for forgiveness!"

"What happened, we got so much money off of Kong! We're going to have the biggest business, what's about sixty dollars to you?" asked Luigi. Mario glared at him.

"It's not that," he said slightly quietly. "It's the principle."

"Principle?" Luigi remarked. "Your the one who is always going on and on about how values matter and how we should stick to those! What is this untold principle? Make up your mind on our values!" Mario was about to retort back but they were interrupted by the sound of running footsteps. It was the waitress, she was wearing strange bib overalls like she was working in the Sahara or something. Mario, still fuming, did his best to change his demeanor. Luigi on the other hand, well, whereas Mario was fumbling to keep calm, Luigi had already forgotten of the argument.

"Excuse me!" she said as the two brothers were about to pack up their supplies. "You saved me!" she exclaimed. "I mean you saved my job back there, but I can't let you guys do that. How much do I owe you?"

"Well, considering the time and labour -," Mario huffed, looking at Luigi.

"Nothing!" he said, ignorant of his brother's disdain. "Can we offer you a ride somewhere... ehh...?"

"Daisy," she answered. "My name is Daisy."

"Well I'm Luigi," responded Luigi. "That's my brother Mario." Mario simply nodded, angry and wanting to get home as soon as possible.

"I'm doing work at the excavation site at the old tunnel," she told Luigi. "That is if it's not in your way..." Luigi was thrilled and got her in the backseat, Mario hardly said a word, still angry about the lost business. Luigi glanced at him and knew that his brother was hiding something, but as they got on the road and he looked at Daisy, he forgot about his brother's woes. Luigi turned back to ask her a question, but for a second the words would not come out.

"What's with this tunnel?" he asked her.

"When the excavators went in they turned up some bones and fossils," Daisy answered, "I believe the university put up a deal with Capelli's head honcho Scapelli to put a stop order on the work, they think it's going to be a pretty big discovery."

"Woah," Luigi responded, obviously fascinated. Mario on the other hand really could not care less, he was slightly intrigued, though, but only enough to make him quit caring about the money.

"There's iridium in the rocks. They think... well it's a theory...," Daisy was pausing, minding her words. "This could be a site where a giant meteorite hit... one that split off from the asteroid before it hit the Yucatan. That asteroid is what is attributed to wiping out the dinosaurs, I think this one did most of the work for the North, though."

"Isn't that cool, Mario?" Luigi asked his brother. "There used to be dinosaurs here in Brooklyn!"

"There used to be Dodgers," Mario sourly answered. "Look at what happened to them." They arrived at the excavation site not a minute after, the Brooklyn Bridge was clearly visible from it, the traffic growing by the second. Mario was already feeling sorry for all of the tourists. The truck parked at the cordoned off site, beyond them, many of the protesters had been joined by the construction workers. Apparently the stop-order was affecting their work as well, it only took them a couple hours to realize that. By the second, there were less and less rednecks and more and more workers, refusing to do the university's work. Luigi quickly got out to help Daisy from the cab. With the workers, the police had arrived, fearing that perhaps the protests could finally get violent. There three cars of New York's best, so probably about six officers holding back the strike.

"Thanks again," she said.

"Any time," Luigi promised. He wanted to say more, but he was tongue tied. Daisy smiled and walked away. Behind the wheel, Mario reacted quickly and pulled down his window as a black limo pulled up beside him. Out of it came three guys in black suits, the main of whom was Eddie Scapelli. Eddie worked for Capelli Industries, run by his uncle, Jerome Capelli. His designer clothes gave him the look of John Gotti. Scapelli's two associates were also wearing business suits but had faces like they had run a hundred meter dash on a sixty meter track. Mario quickly recognized Eddie, his suspicions were true.

"Yo Eddie," Mario called. "What's happening?"

"What's happening is I'm dying here!" he answered, moving towards the truck. "I got the construction contract on this job for Uncle Jerome, and now a group of paleo-proctologists tell me I got to stop blasting? See you, dude." He moved on, making his way to the cops. "Is this the best deployment of your manpower? We've got girls going missing all over Brooklyn and there is six of New York's finest just sitting on their asses here scratching their balls?"

"We're just here to avoid any trouble, Mr. Scapelli," an officer responded as courteous as possible.

"These men have to feed their families," Eddie responded, anger rising in his voice. "They have a right to voice their opinion."

"Not with baseball bats," another officer said.

As Luigi got in the car to leave, he kept on watching Daisy, noticing how she quickly rejoined her fellow students.


	5. Chapter 5

By the end of the next day, the two brothers were getting dressed and ready. Their main room, messy and needing desperate cleaning, was full of old furniture inherited from their parents. At opposite sides of the room were two doors, from one came out Nirvana and from the other came out T.I., both styles contrasting each other. Mario came out of the first door, the one playing Nirvana. His hair was wet and sleek, he was fixing it up with a metal comb. Wearing trousers and a white top, it showed off his tattooed arms and ID bracelet. Luigi came out from the other door, he was wearing baggy clothes, a dark green T-Shirt and a wish bracelet. "I thought you were going out?" Mario asked, confused. "Why aren't you changed?"

"Style, Mario," Luigi answered. "Style. Today's fashion means I am changed!"

"Then why do you look like your going to a farm aid concert?" Mario asked. He was exhausted with trying to get his brother to look professional, so he would let this one lie.

"The look is loose," Luigi responded. "Keep wearing those Sinatra pants and you'll be lucky to have children."

"I'm seeing Pauline," Mario laughed it off. "A girl like that expects a man to look sharp."

"So where're you taking her?" Luigi inquired.

"Somewhere where they won't bounce my plastic," Mario answered. "Problem with working for yourself is you don't got nobody to beef with when you don't get paid."

"Maybe we should try a new business," Luigi joked.

"What's wrong with you?" Mario chuckled. "I'm thirty-five and now I'm going to be an aerospace engineer?"

"Hey, it's got to be something," Luigi put his hands up. "I mean when you tell people you clog and unclog drains for a living, it doesn't come off as cool."

"Yeah, but nobody forced you into this civil engineering boy," Mario pointed out at Luigi's university efforts. They had gone all right, it's just that Luigi never got the jobs he wanted. "I was forced." This time he pointed out to a picture of their father, probably the greatest plumber in New York state. "When poppa was sitting on that chair a month before his deathbed what was I supposed to say? Hnnn? That I don't want to be a plumber because Jennifer Lopez ain't gonna give me a lap dance so it ain't no glamour profession?"

"It's just - that girl today - she's really special," Luigi pointed out. "Daisy."

"So what?" Mario asked. "You meet a girl one day and you think she's some princess?"

"She just might be," Luigi pointed out. "Why would she want to be with a plumber?"

"Just wait until her toilet is blocked," Mario responded. "Then she'll come running to you."

* * *

An hour later Mario was at the restaurant, a large sprawling time-warp of a place. It was the kind of place that one knew would never have served or even heard of meatballs in thick read sauce or argula or sun died tomatoes. There were red velvet booths and tiny table lamps all over the place. Mario was there sitting with Pauline Capelli in a corner booth. She was dark, brave and Brooklyn, she toyed with the spaghetti with her fork and then looked up at Mario. "Everyone thinks the grass is greener Mario," she told him. For some reason Mario could not help but think that was a reference to get him more light-hearted like Luigi. "Take my job at the tanning salon. I mean I think it's a growth industry but my boss is such a jerk. Like today I go to get my hair done-."

"Did I tell you it looks good?" Mario pointed out.

"Thank you," she said, albeit very quickly. "Anyways, I get back and straight off, he is on my case!"

"I guess he was teed off because you did it on company time," Mario suggested. He started thinking about how much Luigi never cared on doing other things during work and how that affected business.

"It grew on company time!" Pauline stated.

"Not all of it?" Mario asked sheepishly.

"I didn't get all of it cut off!" she cried quietly. Mario laughed but an "oh shit" went off in his head when he saw who entered through the door, Eddie Scapelli. Flanked by his two associates, he was greeted by the maitre d' and quickly spotted Mario and Pauline. He made his way to them. Mario half rose but Eddie quickly motioned him back down.

He gave Pauline a kiss on the cheek and turned to address Mario. "Yo Mario, I'm happy your taking out my cousin, she's a very special girl," he put in.

"He knows that, Eddie," Pauline awkwardly laughed, evidently embarrassed.

"I know he knows that," Eddie put a hand to her face. "What I also know that he knows is that I know that he will take good care of you and respect you. That's important isn't it Mario, respect? Like, say you touch her, Uncle Jerome'll kill you, or get me to, so, don't and please, don't let any apes touch her again. Have a nice evening guys!" He slapped Mario on the shoulder, but the plumber after seeing the veiled threat which his girlfriend couldn't didn't have that much of an appetite.

"Say, speaking of monkeys, where is Donkey Kong now?" asked Pauline. Mario looked at her surprised, given that the last thing he expected to hear from her was a question on the ape.


	6. Chapter 6

Temporary floodlights illuminated the site. Daisy and her professor, Elvin Gadd, and a lot of other students were emerging from the site. It was raining, so they all put up their umbrellas, Daisy had a throwaway red one. Talking to Professor Gadd, her only thoughts were on getting back to her apartment in the rain, the subway was a ways and all of the students' carpools were full. Surprised, she saw Luigi standing next to his truck in the rain. Making her way there, not listening to what Gadd was saying, Daisy approached him. "Hi...," he said sheepishly. Daisy cocked an eyebrow. "Oh, I happened to be passing and I thought maybe you'd need a ride in this rain, I mean you walked to the cafe and there isn't a subway for a while."

"Oh, who is this?" Gadd asked, his mind off the research. "Someone special?" Daisy ignored the question, raising Luigi's curiosity.

"I'm Luigi, I was on my way back home from a job and I thought-," he started.

"No need to explain anything to me, my boy," he stopped Luigi right there. "I'll be seeing you Daisy," he said his goodbyes and departed.

"Anyways," Luigi said. "I thought you might be wanting a ride, like I said, you know all the weird things happening recently, missing girls and all." Daisy hesitated, she did not know this man but he seemed sincere enough. Smiling, she got in. As they were driving, pas the windshield wipers, Luigi and Daisy's faces were reflecting in the glass off of the light coming from the headlights. Daisy, feeling slightly awkward, began to finger the crystal wrapped around her neck. "So your a student?" Luigi asked to break up the silence.

"Well, yeah," she answered. "It's just about saving up enough to pass the course - paleontology." She smiled when she saw his puzzled look, him obviously never having heard of anyone join the course before.

"You must think I'm pretty weird just being into old fossils and old bones," she laughed. "It's just been what I've loved ever since I was - will, ever since I can remember anything. It's just what I wanted to do. Did you ever go to university?"

"Yeah," Luigi answered, laughing. "I took a civil engineering course, like usual, middle of my class and no job. That's why I took up plumbing with my brother, I'm so much better at it as well." He saw the crystal around her neck and pointed it out, "Did you dig that up down there?"

"What?"

"The thing around your neck."

"This?" she asked and he nodded. "No. It was with me when I was found."

"Found?" Luigi asked. "Most things are born, or well, hatched." She laughed at the joke.

"No silly, I was abandoned," she responded. "I was brought up on St. Teresa's on Fulton street.

"Hey, that's my neighborhood!" Luigi added in. "Maybe we saw each other as kids and well... just never knew I guess."

* * *

With their dinner finished, Mario and Pauline walked out of the restaurant. Realizing the rain and that he did not bring his truck, Mario and she sheltered themselves under the canopy of the restaurant. "Y'know, we could just walk, it's only a few block's till Eddie's house." She pointed to her new hairdo.

"I spent eighty bucks on this Mario!"

Noticing something, Mario ran out on to the street holding up his arms. "Hey!... hey!" he cried out. It was his and Luigi's truck, coincidentally just passing by. The van quickly began to skid to a halt. "Good timing bro!" Mario said. Luigi realized he didn't know Daisy was in the backseat, his face quickly told Mario it was anything but. Soon, all four were chatting noisily in the truck enjoying themselves when Mario reached Pauline's apartment.

Daisy handed her the throwaway umbrella. "Take this, please, I don't need it," she offered.

"Thanks, that's real nice of ya," Pauline graciously accepted. Then she turned to Mario, "Wanna come in?" Mario was about to say yes, but remembered Eddie's warning about Jerome.

"Maybe another time Pauline," he said.

"Your loss," she claimed, to which Mario received and elbow to the shoulder from Luigi. Holding the umbrella up, Pauline looked just like Daisy from an angle. The brothers drove off before they could see two strange figures follow Pauline into her apartment. Daisy then offered to show the two the dig site, but Mario knew he had to go home and so was dropped off on the way.


	7. Chapter 7

Pouring espresso into a mug with one hand, Mario was checking the sports page in the paper with the other. Drying off from the slight rain, Mario was tired. Tired enough to be willing to forgive Luigi. All he wanted to do was finish his drink, read the sports, maybe watch some television and go to sleep. He had a lot of problems. He should have used the money he had left over in clearing off all of his debts. He'd hoped that modernizing the business would do that, but they were just racking on and on and on. He did what he thought was right, use the money to make sure that Donkey Kong and DKJ went to a good home in their natural habitat, but still... something about their ship confused him.

Mario almost jumped and dropped the espresso when the door began hammering. Getting up, sighing, and going to answer it, Mario was surprised to see it was Eddie, he figured that maybe Luigi lost his keys again or something. "She's not here Eddie! I wouldn't bring Pauline here!" Mario swore, not getting why the big cousin was here.

"I get why," Eddie said, looking at the mess of a room behind the plumber. "I'm not here about her. Look, I'm going to straight up say this genuine. My uncle's a nice guy, and if you get to Pauline closer if you hear me, you'll want to be on his good side. I didn't want to do this, but he says I need to get my boys back to work or it's m'ass on the curb and my face that get's my mom's slaps. Aight, das not tight. I need to get my boys back to work, I said that twice to emphasize the importance. Something needs to go on in that tunnel, an accident, maybe, a flood perhaps?" Mario looked confused, but he clearly understood.

"Why are you telling me, Eddie?" asked Mario, hoping for an easy way out.

"This is your field Mario," Eddie answered, offering exposition. "You know about pipes, valves, water... and your practically family."

"Yeah but I couldn't do that," Mario protested. "Their digging up history down there!" Eddie pulled a thick roll of bills from his pocket.

"Way I understand it, your money from that whole ape-escapade with it, then with it's son, are dried out," he stated. "You're getting the business high but with all that money tailing on your ass it'll go low again. We're family Mario, let me help. You've just got to do this one thing for me, you don't know my uncle yet but promise me, if you meet him after this? You won't like him. I hear business is lousy. Think about it."

Mario considered it. That roll of bills could wipe out his entire debt. He eyed it, but that would be the easy way out. He knew it was what Luigi would do, what he wanted to do. Mario still held his ideals, principles and morals close to his heart though. "No way. Eddie I can't."

"Then think about this," Eddie said angrily. He put a magnum to Mario's hit and clicked the barrel with his thumb and pressed.

* * *

At the tunnel in the excavation area, a flare of light illuminated the passageway's dark recesses. Daisy was in her bib overalls and wearing a hardhat with a laminated pass strapped to her shoulder. Luigi was right there alongside her, having had been eager to see some dinosaur fossils. She tilted a worklight over towards a rock strata, illuminating the formation. "This layer of rock is carboniferous sandstone," she told him. "It doesn't pop up on any geological map anywhere near this area. And here, there's something I feel I need to show you."

Luigi followed her and the bobbing light further down the tunnel. They stopped and Daisy shone it on the fossil of a strange creature. To Luigi, the head looked almost reptilian whereas the body looked humanoid except for the fact that it appeared to have some sort of casing, a shell maybe, over it's back. "The proportions of the bones here... the skeleton makes it seem almost like an early human... except for the fact that it has those," she said, pointing to it's mouth, where several rows of jagged teeth were sticking out.

"I hope he had a dental plan," Luigi joked, but his fascination overtook the joke and made a mere whisper that Daisy could not hear.

"It's beautiful," Daisy declared. "Almost as if it was a monster trying to be a human being..."

* * *

On the surface, the excavation site was roped off but idle. There were two police stationed there to make sure none of the striking workers would come back for sabotage, but they were being distracted by Eddie and one of his goons. The other associate was "escorting" Mario into the tunnel. Mario was carrying a bag and had a heavy duty tool belt strapped around his wrist. Even though he was being threatened into doing this, Eddie promised he would pay Mario... but how could the plumber live with himself? Luigi was fascinated with Daisy and if she ever found his brother ruined her dream. Not only that, so many students futures depended on the excavation of the tunnel and all so Eddie's uncle wouldn't lose a few he was ruining their lives as well.

Making their way to the pumping area, Mario was prodded forward by the goon. While they both carried flashlights, Mario shone his against the control panel. The valves and pipes were rusting with age and disuse, chances were the entire area was set to flood itself anyways. "Man, I really got a problem with this."

"Get on with it," the goon hurried him. "I've got to take my mother to church in the morning and I want to wake up early."

* * *

Luigi watched curiously as Daisy tenderly brushed some soil off of the skull of the dinosaur. "Could you give me some more light on this?" she asked him. Luigi moved over a tangle of cables and other work lights. He then bent over to pick up his dropped flashlights.

"Aaagh!" he cried as a black rubber truncheon shacked him in the back of the head. Slumping to his knees, Luigi keeled over with his hard hat rolling over across the rock-strewn ground. Daisy, however, was so invested in her work that she hardly noticed Luigi down on the ground and figured him to just be playing another joke or something of the sort. However, some sixth sense alerted her of the danger she was in. Turning around, she screamed as she saw two men try and grab her. Daisy tried to fight back, squirming, kicking, biting and screaming but to no avail. She was no match for them and they both started to drag her down into the depths of the tunnel.

Groggily getting to his knees at the hearing of a faint scream, Luigi rubbed the back of his head, the pain was immense and throbbing. "Daisy...?" he whispered. "DAISY!"

* * *

The rusting valve began to give way as it began to give leverage to Mario's wrench. Then there was a sudden rumble and roar from deep inside the machinery. Deeply disturbed by what he had to do, the look on Mario's face was not only one of sorrow, but disappointment that he had failed his own ideals. The goon once again prodded him with the gun, motioning for him to leave. They stepped through the door, closing it behind them. Heading upwards towards the surface, they reached the area where the tunnel forked off into the excavation area. Mario heard somebody cry out 'Daisy' and the realization hit him, Luigi and Daisy were still in the tunnel. "That's my brother down there!" Mario told the goon.

"Well what's the dumbass doing down there?" he asked back.

The door from where they exited began to burst open and suddenly, flooding water began to pour out in enormous bursts. Realizing the danger his brother was in, Mario gave no second thought about their quarrels or money issues and ran off for him, throwing the tool bag into the goon's hands. As Mario rounded the bend in the tunnel, knee deep in water, Luigi reacted with pleasant surprise. "Mario!" he cried out.

"We've got to get out of here kid!" ordered Mario.

"I've got to find Daisy!" cried Luigi. Grabbing the flashlight from Mario, he continued to head down the tunnel, going deeper into the depths which were now filling with water. Reacting in exasperation, Mario quickly tried to calculate the odds of the rising water. Understanding that he had no choice, Mario began to chase after his brother. With the tunnel ending in a cave, Luigi looked astonished. Where could Daisy be? The water began to deepen and swirl around them, duckboards, cables and scaffolding began to be swept up in it's torrent. Luigi began to look around wildly and then he saw it, in the darkest recesses of the cave there was a faint glow.

It was a rock, the glow got brighter and the rock began to vibrate. Then it rippled and through the solid surface, circumstances which neither brother could explain, ever, Daisy's face appeared. Seeing Luigi, she reacted like a drowning person going under for the third time, she flailed her hand out in desperation. "HELP ME!" she cried out. Luigi reached out for her, his fingers clamping around the pendent tied to her neck. Then solid hands reached through the equally solid stone and pulled her back. The rock swirled and shuddered, reaching over her, leaving Luigi with the pendent in his hand and the water to his knees. The brothers exchanged looks, wanting to deny what they just saw.

"She's in there!" Luigi declared and he began to thump on the rock like a madman, bruising his palms.

"And we're in here and we're going to drown!" Mario tried to rationalize the situation for his brother. In that exact instant the wall became fluid again and absorbed the two brothers, they were snatched through.

The only thing that could be heard amid the flooding water was Mario's reaction in consternation: "Oh shit!"


	8. Chapter 8

Mario moved through the wall and quickly examined the surface with his flashlight. It glistened and swirled, specks and sparkles shining like distant galaxies visible by the naked eye under a starry night on Earth. The water began to rush through. Mario blinked and reached out to touch the wall which had absorbed him and then sucked him out only a moment prior. It was solid, but the specks began to rush towards him like a starfield collapsing under the might of a neutron star. Bracing himself, he threw his shoulder against the wall. He fell back, recoiling in pain and then was gone.

For a few moments, Mario looked around, caught up in some kind of strange cosmic vortex. He saw several dozen worlds, a giant desert with snakes walking on their hind tails and fairies flying, a planet where giant bees were conversing with each other and more. None stayed in his memory for too long. Then the bizarre distortion of shifting dimensions began to solidify and the Super Mario Brothers found themselves in a sort of concealed underground chamber. Looking around, astonished, Mario could not say a word. The walls were rough-hewn, in them a depiction of a meteorite crashing to the ground was etched. Some were filled with a fluorescent moss that made them seem akin to a mix of cave drawings by children and graffiti by teenagers. "Did we die?" Mario heard Luigi say. "Are we in hell?"

"Nah," Mario brushed off the idea, although he was considering it seriously as well. "Purgatory more like it. I always figured hell would have accordion music." They looked around the room, wondering who had time to make something like this. They were lost in thought when the door in front of them cracked and slid open. An old man stepped through, he looked curiously at the two. Then he made his way towards Mario.

"I wasn't told no one else was coming through," he muttered. "You bring me anything?" Was this the man who took Daisy, their head were spinning, themselves dazed and unable to comprehend what exactly was happening. "They always bring me things." He yanked at his sweater to show them. "Benetton, and see?" He showed them his hand on which was a swatch watch. The two brothers were befuddled, who was this old man who was talking so kindly to them? "It's supposed to work underwater." No, this man was too strange to have taken Daisy.

"A girl came through here, right?" Luigi asked, and the old man nodded. "Where did she go? Where did -." He stopped short of trying to claim she was kidnapped.

"Cute ain't she?" the old man laughed, dirtily.

"He said where," Mario said, threateningly. Luigi got him into this mess, wherever this place was he was still trying to comprehend. Mario knew that whatever Daisy was in, it was a mess. He wanted to leave, just swim out of the tunnel and make his way... but if he left he would betray his morals once again. He had already ruined Daisy's life and dreams, the least he could do was save her life. She wanted help and Mario was not going to leave until he found her and rescued her. Then they would leave this underground pedo-cupboard and report it to the cops.

The old man raised a finger, his long nail filled with dirt and pointed towards the door. "Thanks," Luigi muttered and the two brothers headed out. They opened the door and looked at the black void in front of them. For a split second they were silhouetted against it to the custodian, who hit a switch and turned on the turbine. The two brothers were sucked upwards, screaming while trying to keep their caps on.

"Your welcome," the old man laughed crustily.

Their faces distorted by the g-force, their bodies were spinning in the updraft. Luigi arrived first, propelled into an opening in the floor and slowed down to have a safe landing in a tunnel. It was filled with a labyrinth of different coloured pipes and ducts and valves, a plumbers dream. He picked himself up and began to look around when he suddenly hurtled back down to the floor when Mario was sent crashing into him. Helping each other to their feet, the two stumbled a bit and took a good look around. "Okay," Mario tried to rationalize the situation they were in. "Reality check. We were somewhere beneath the East River, sucked into a rock, met Freddy Krueger wearing a Mets Cap - what does this tell you?"

Luigi shrugged, he had no idea. "I give up. What's the answer... maybe we're in a different subway system or an unused WWII or Cold War underground bunker?" Suddenly, the floor beneath them began to vibrate with water rushing through the pipes. A sound came overhead them, getting nearer and louder. It was akin to the rumble of a subway train but was on the other side of the wall in front of them. Flakes of rust and paint began to methodically drift down below them from above. Seeing the door in front of them, they opened it and the sight amazed their eyes.

At first they thought they were in New York City - but no, not quite. Not yet. The sky was full of smog and decay. Neglect had touched the core of wherever they were and it seemed like a parallel to the South Bronx, only much much worse. The walls beside them were not only cracked, but covered in a strange fungus, the mushrooms sprouting and growing wherever. Whoever was in charge of this place kept it clear from the aboveground easily. Mario looked up, expecting to see a giant roof that separated this place from New York, but he only saw the stars, almost covered amidst the smoke and smog and pollution that dominated the sky. Where were they? That was the question of the day. The seeping fungus half-obscured the graffiti, written in English, and the brothers looked around again. The lights were different than those in New York, red and dim. The trash receptacles were different. Mostly, the advertisements were different and they could not make up what they were about... it hit Mario in the back of the head but he could not believe it, they were in a different world.


	9. Chapter 9

Mario looked around, trying to figure it all out, make sense of it. He had the slightest idea that they had been transported to another world, but only the slightest. He could see the sky and he had never heard of this place before and the fact was that it was not underground and it was not near New York. It was not as if they had traveled fifty miles west or something to Detroit. Luigi was looking around for something else, Daisy. Then he saw her, further up along the platform, her arms shackled by two strange men wearing leather jackets. "DAISY!" he yelled out. She broke free and turned around and looked over the railing, it was Luigi.

"LUIGI!" she yelled. Quickly turning to see the two men after her, she ran for Luigi and he did the same. Mario trailed them, his eyes focused on the two men behind her. One was significantly older than the other, but just as deadly it seemed. She fell into Luigi's arms and he looked at her face, it was pale, frightened and confused. He then looked at the two men, who had stopped in front of them, blocking their way.

"How did you get here? What's happening?" Luigi asked her, not taking his eyes off of the two strange men.

"Those two brought me down here!" she cried, pointing a finger at the two. Their hair was slicked back into the shape of protruding scales, Mario noted. Whoever these men were, whatever this place was, it had some connection with the excavation site. Thinking harder he thought about the cave paintings, but the thought was just too crazy to believe.

The younger one took out a stun stick, a baton that head an electric end and held it towards Luigi. "Back off Brooklyn, we ain't got no quarrel with you."

Luigi looked at him defiantly, only able to hear Mario muttering among the clatter. "This is a crowded place, Luigi," he whispered. "Nobody's paying attention to us, their just brushing by. They'll only notice if one of us dies. Do what they say kid. I don't know what that thing is but I'm betting it's loaded."

"Listen to your big brother," the younger one said. The two looked at him, astonished that he had heard that among all of the ruckus. The man tapped on his ears four times with his index finger. Luigi released Daisy and the older one grabbed her and began to pull her towards the open doors of the train. The younger one began to do the same, but kept the stun stick trained on Luigi. The older one seemed not to care too much about what was happening with the brothers, but the younger one, whose smile was deadly, was reckless and overconfident, Mario determined.

"We can't just stand here!" Luigi angrily stated. Once again he had come to crossroads with his brother! When would this end? When would they finally agree on something and just be able to help each other? First it's with free charity and then it's with helping somebody? Then Mario shoves his ideals which he never seems to follow up front? Luigi was fuming.

"Nothing we can do, kid," Mario said normally, aware of the younger one's acute hearing. It was a lie, though, a ruse and behind his back, Mario was taking out a metal wrench from his work bench. Suddenly underhanding it, he threw it at the younger one's elbow, causing him to drop the stun stick. Everything that happened next happened fast, the older one forced the girl through the open doors of the train. Before the two villains could get on with her, though, the Mario Bros quickly pushed their asses back onto the cold deteriorating metal. Daisy desperately tried to squeeze off the train, but she was crushed within a horde of people and could barely move back to the exit. Then the tram rode on, sending her to the next exit stop.

"Let's take them Uncle Spike," the younger one said.

"With pleasure Iggy," the elder, Uncle Spike, responded. "At least we can treat my cousin with the skulls of these mammals. We'll find the girl, but I'm going to enjoy this -." Caught in a monologue, Uncle Spike hardly noticed Luigi jump up on to the railing and then jump onto Spike's skull. The uncle was pushed down the ground and the back of his skull entertained the grating metal below him. Mario then picked up the stun stick, and seeing it worked like a taser, took out the younger one. Some commuters stopped and stared at the fight, but passed on within a few seconds. It was almost as if muggings and fights were a daily sight, even more so than in the bad parts of Brooklyn where at least a crowd could gather. But no, nobody even wanted to watch.

Watching the train move on, Luigi reacted in dismay. He had just saved Daisy and lost her in that exact instance. They watched helplessly as Daisy pressed for help against one of the windows, her pale face crying for Luigi. Then the train descended to the depths of Luigi's own personal purgatory.


	10. Chapter 10

Looking in the direction of the train, Mario tapped Luigi on the shoulder and ran. "C'mon, we can hurry to the next stop!" Running down the steps of the subway, the brothers advanced into the street and they reacted in sheer astonishment. Thrust in to the pulsing madness of this strange parallel of New York City that was not Yer York, they realized they were at it's hub. Staring up they saw a grotesque and twisted version of New York, as if it were stuck in the 90s and forgot to clean up. The place was ablaze with light and noise. The neon gas was blinking for rock'n'roll all over the place. The large crowd in front of them was swirling and shoving aggressively. Somewhere a woman was screaming and somewhere else two guys were screaming back. Atop the buildings, huge brightly animated billboards featured ads for cars and shoes. Suspended high over the streets was a wire mesh and sparks were constantly flying and raining down as kids tried to skateboard over it. The net was powering cabled cars below, whose telescoping rods were tipped with spring mounted tesla balls. They were battered beyond recognition and painted in Aboriginal war 's voice was a whisper as the two tried to take it all in.

"Where is this?"

"It's like New York but it isn't anything close to New York," explained Mario.

"Yeah, it's like New York on acid," suggested Luigi. Suddenly, the grid above flashed blue like an insect zapper just went off and two battered cars collided. The drivers reacted with indifference, as if they were driving bumper cars at Coney Island and just drove on. As they walked on in astonishment, the boys passed two hookers, one ho grabbed Mario by the shoulder and held him back.

"Hey boys," she approached them. "Wanna step on scales... get flayed?"

"Excuse me?" Mario asked.

"C'mon," she teased. "Read my hips."

"Move it, we're looking for a lady," Luigi said, trying to get her out of the way.

"Well roleplaying, huh? I can do that," she suggested.

"I said a lady," Luigi repeated.

"What're you a bunch of herbivores?" she taunted and moved back, letting the brothers they were clear, Luigi asked the question: "Where are we?"

"I don't know!" Mario stressed. "The Manhattan of the future, maybe that was an inter-dimensional wormhole that took us through another realm and then back to our world but in the future. Or maybe it did the opposite and took us the Bronx of '93! No wonder dad told me to never go there... or maybe, it's a parallel dimension. Y'know, sharing the same space as ours but unreachable unless we vibrate at the right frequency. That rock was vibrating, maybe it sent us to this dimension!"

"Where the hell did you learn physics?""Discovery channel," Mario answered.

Before he could explain his theory further by adding in the DC Comics Multiverse, the saw an old lady attempt to approach them. She wore a knitted cap and a long skirt, looking like a street person. However, she was friendly enough to greet the brothers."You boys from out of town?" she asked.

"Yeah, we're from uhh, not here, we're from east," Luigi awkwardly answered.

"So your from Toadsworth's land?" she frowned. "It's dangerous here, are you boys armed?"

"Not exactly, no." Luigi said quickly.

"Good," her mug went serious and she pulled out a stun stick, not dissimilar to the one Iggy had. "Give me all of your money, NOW!" Moving blindingly fast, she frisked the boys wallets. Mario tried to resist and was stung, falling to the ground as if he were hit by a cattle prod. The old lady looked at the dollar bills in their wallets and threw them back down at the two. "What the hell are these?" she asked. "I don't need paper I need gold koopons!"

"What the hell?" Mario asked. "That's almost two hundred in both of our wallets!" Then she turned the dial on her stun stick, both Mario and Luigi could tell whatever that meant, it was not good... but they heard the police sirens horned and sighed in relief as the old lady turned around, trying to look dazed and confused. It did not work on the cops, whose cars were not attached to the grid and were black, as was their uniform. It was there that Mario saw the logo on their cars, DPD, what the hell did that mean? The lady began to run for it, but it took a bullet to the knee to knock her out. Somehow, though, as if her bones were more dense than normal, she was able to keep running until she was tasered down. "Thanks officer," Mario thanked, approaching a cop.

"You boys compies or something?" asked the officer. "Getting taken down by a turnstile jumper, a hadrosaur at that!"

"We didn't know what she was!" Luigi remarked, wondering why the hell the cop called her a dinosaur. "We thought she was just some old lady." The cop's face furrowed upon hearing that.

"Let me see some face-fit."

Figuring he meant ID, Mario took out his drivers license.

"What the hell is this?" the cop asked.

"My drivers license," Mario answered.

"Y'ever hear of a drivers license?" the cop asked his partner. "Log'em!"

"On what charge?" Luigi protested.

"Failure," the cop answered, "to offer a bribe." He threw the two in the back of the car and moved on. The cop car sped down a ramp into the bowels of a building whose neon light flicked the signs: "Dinohattan Police Precinct - Metro Division.01". Inside the car, Mario and Luigi were panicking, much to the officer's chagrin, who thought they had too many magic mushrooms, and were watching in fright as the car seemed to be speeding up towards a brick wall. Before it could hit, the car was attached to arrester hooks, which seemed to be akin to what held fighter planes up on an aircraft carrier. Escorted out, Mario was astonished at what he saw. As a young guy, about Luigi's age, he was a hoodlum, a goon. It was what got him with guys like Eddie and dating Pauline in the first place. He had seen the back of a precinct many times... but this place? It was much more hellish than any New York precinct, even in Hells Kitchen, than Mario had ever been bailed out of. There was noise and chaos everywhere, Mario flinched as he saw cop execute a secretary and people just walk over her body as if it was an everyday routine. Luigi had never been a "goon" and so this chaos and shock was all new to him, if he ever went to an actual New York precinct he would probably be pleased. There was also a lot of noise coming from the other side of the room, which seemed to be a pound for crunched cars. The one they saw get snatched was being unloaded onto a pile of other vehicles. An attendant spray painted something onto a windshield.

"See what you got us into?" Mario asked Luigi. He knew he did not mean anything of what he said, he wanted to find Daisy as well but he was angry and needed to take out his frustration n somebody. "You knew nothing about that girl other than the fact that you owed her boss money when it should've been the other way around. You had to go chasing after, looking at old bones and prehistoric mesozoic history? That stuff is passed! You never pay attention to the here and now! When we're working, you look somewhere else! When your working, your concentrated so long as your trapped in a box where the only thing you can see is a valve!" Mario pulled out his wallet which had a picture of their entire family, Mario pointed to a picture of their father. "Do you know how disappointed he would be in you right now?" Luigi just glared at Mario.

"You talk of your ideals and your morals," Luigi stated. "You don't know where we are and that's when you draw the line. Talk so big of what you value, but I've never seen you follow principle once!" Mario wanted to hit his brother and was prepared to do so, the cops sensed it as well and cuffed the two before a fight could break out. Shoved into separate lines, the two brothers continued to stare at each other with growing anger. As they entered stalls, they tore off numbers from a dispenser and then sat on a metal bench riveted to the floor. It they could not find one or sit on somebody's lap, they would have to sit on the fungal grated floor. Booking officers sat at separate wire mesh windows blocked by a stall wall which had two revolving turntables in which prisoners would turn over their belongings. The brothers ended up side by side in separate lines, Luigi had stopped looking at Mario and was thinking back to how it all started. Mario kept looking at him with anger. "Do I got something on my face?" Luigi angrily asked. "What where you doing at the tunnel?"

"What?" Mario questioned. "Out of everything you ask me, first you question my ideals and now you go left hand?"

"I know how far back you and Eddie go Mario," Luigi stated. "What were you doing in the tunnel."

"I was saving your ass Luigi!" Mario roared. "But given the situation we're in, it doesn't seem like you really want saving now does it?"

The guard signaled for Mario to turn over his workbelt. Clipping it off, Mario placed it on the turntable. "That workbench you just put there? You had that on you. How could that save my ass, huh? And what about the place flooding all of the sudden? Maybe you took some grade A tools, started the pressure but blocked it off. I have a feeling perhaps that caused an enormous building from excess coming out the East River with it's traffic diverted it needed to go somewhere. Think I don't know nothing about the business now, Mario?"

"Take care of my tools, their grade A - my livelihood," Mario told the officer while looking at Luigi. "I had a gun held to my head, Luigi. You would've done the same, oh, no wait... you would've taken the bullet for Daisy and left me, Pauline and all to rot. You know how Romeo ended up, or did you not take English 11?" Luigi looked at him angrily and stepped to the next window and emptied his pockets. He put down a watch, a wallet, a St. Christopehrs Medallion and due to his reluctance to take out the next item, a hefty female officer grabbed it from him. It was Daisy's crystal. On her name tag it said Corporal Red Bertha. Much to her name, Bertha was wearing a red uniform. Grabbing the crystal, she put it on and turned a sister officer.

"Whadda ya think?" she asked.

"I want a receipt for that," Luigi claimed, he was intent on keeping the cyrstal. She laughed out loud, there was a fat chance he was getting that back. An officer whacked the two brothers in the back with a night stick and sent them back into the herd with the other prisoners. He also took off their cuffs, guessing correctly that the anger that the brothers had towards each other had to have subsided by then. They made their way to another officer who was wearing a football jacket somehow, on his tag it said Sergeant Chuck.

"Names!" he demanded, like Luigi's high school football coach.

"Mario Segale."

"Luigi Segale."

"Bail is fixed at five hundred koopons," declared Chuck.

"What do you mean like grocery coupons?" asked Mario. The wisecrack got him another whack by the nightstick. The prisoners went back in line, Luigi behind Mario.

"You know what your problem is Mario?" Luigi asked. "You don't care about anyone."

"No I know what my problem is," Mario fired back. "It's that I do care. You see if I didn't care about anyone I wouldn't have followed your ass down here and I would've pulled you out. I promised pop I would care for my little brother, who couldn't even be born on time and was still crapping in his diapers when I had to start working. Maybe if I had a sibling my age who I didn't ever have to look forward to, I could've gone to college I could've gone beyond plumber. But I didn't, because that was all you were supposed to do! Guess, what you failed! But you know what's worse, it was my job to make sure you wouldn't fail so tell me, whose the bigger loser. The loser or the idiot whow as supposed to make the loser win?" Luigi looked at him once, but not again. As they made their way forward Mario and Luigi were both visibly shocked to see two Jurassic Park velociraptor like creatures standing up front, with humanlike fingers and no tail wearing military armour approach them. "What the hell are those?" Mario asked the old lag in front of him.

"Goombas," the answer came back. Before Mario could ask further, both he and Luigi were grabbed and had a gas mask shoved onto their face and were thrown away then.

"What the hell was that?" Mario asked the old lag again, ripping off the gas mask.

"De-fungus, this your first time in here?" asked the old lag. Another goomba threw down a switch and the three were drenched in a spray of yellow gas. Recoiling at the smell, the brothers began coughing and retching and stumbled into the next room. Prodded forward, Luigi looked at the huge pneumatic drying machines, but they were out of order, leaving all three wet. Taken by two more goombas, the brothers were shackled against a wall and looked at the black wall in front of them. Then they saw the red dot move up their chests and to their forehead. Were they at a rifle range? The dot clicked and their mugshots were taken, destroying their fears that they were going to be executed.


	11. Chapter 11

The cells were nothing more than cramped cages, piled up top one another lit up by a singular and winding pale fluorescent tube. Forklift trucks were used to replace, detach and attach the cells. It was a very crude place, Mario observed: this entire place was going down. Something was happening, something recent in this place for only months maybe, that was causing it to deteriorate. When, though? Mario thought back, the first girl who matched Daisy's description was reported missing about seven months ago. Eight more followed since then. Whatever was choking the life out this city - Dinohattan - was what got the brothers involved.

The two brothers sat disconsolately in two conjoining cells, refusing to talk to each other after their little spat. The space was little and the third man in their "cell" was sleeping. Mario went over to him and saw him sleeping, like a pair of soiled rags. Luigi crawled over to join his brother. They checked out the cages on both sides, there were figures all around them. Mario figured them to be banging on the cages and all, but they were silent. Some had scales and some had razor sharp teeth. They were vicious cutthroat sociopaths, some had green skin that made them look reptilian. Mario thought back to the cave paintings, he was beginning to understand. "There's a lot of unexplained stuff in the world Mario," Luigi said, not looking at his brother's face. "UFOs, psychic phenomena and out of body experiences."

"I don't buy any of that bullshit," Mario nonchalantly responded.

"That's because you have a very closed mind," Luigi quickly said back. "Besides, it was you who suggested an alternate dimension. That's crazier than us both having a conjoined dream due to drowning moments before death, aka, Purgatory."

"And you believe everything you read at the checkout counter!" Mario shot back. "Maybe Elvis is in a tank somewhere her shaking his fat ass for you."

"Most unexplained," Luigi kept on going, as if he did not hear Mario. "Why we keep fighting. So where are we?" Mario could not answer. He and Luigi were at crossroads with each other, but wanting the same thing, but a different way to get there. It was as if the road mattered to them much more than the destination, or if there even was a destination. Maybe their series was prepared to go on forever and ever and ever. They weren't competing with each other, they were competing for each other... but the way they were doing it. Mario realized, it got to both of their heads. About to apologize, Mario noticed something. The bundle in the far corner stirred and turned to the light. He had an old and withered face. It was grizzled and lined, filled with watery eyes, he wore a spotted brown and red cap that almost seemed regal.

"You're in a subdimension," he revealed. "The real dimension exists all around us only we cannot see it, because we are subdimensional, see? One of you suggested this, no?" Mario nodded, but they did not get it.

"That is why everything is so out whack here," the old man continued. "It's filled with fungus, the system is corrupt and the music just isn't happening."

"Wait, I'm sorry," Luigi apologized in advance. "But who are you?"

"The name is Toadsworth," he answered. "I'm not from here, my kingdom his far to the west, beyond this wretched desert. I've been here for so long, almost twenty-five years. I used to live in the desert as hermit, scavenging items to build my own personal escape. I want to go back to my king's land and get an army and thrash this place! Only... only they caught me before I could get the supplies needed to build a pneumatic system that could sustain me to get across the desert. It might work, except I can't remember how far the desert goes on until... wait... from who from where are you two?"

"You talked a bit but I'm Luigi and he's Mario, we're from Brooklyn," Luigi answered. Toadsworth's eyes lit up at the mention of the place.

"That's a mythological place, next to Manhattan and the Kitchen of Hell, yes? It's what our city is modeled after," Toadsworth answered. "Well, my city now. I came here so long ago to meet the Bowser: President Murphy. My land needed help... oh I shouldn't bore you with my life story."

"Wait, you mean your world and my world have crossed over?" Luigi asked.

"It's only a theory," Toadsworth added. "We're all dinosaurs here. The likely answer is you two are just amnesic and thinking your mammals, God knows they've come to look like us."

"Your a dinosaur?"

"Well only half, technically," Toadsworth answered. "Where I come from we're actually spliced, half reptilian half mammalian... but we consider ourselves reptiles." The same sergeant, Chuck, interrupted their conversation, walking down the ramp to their cell.

"Mario Brothers?" he asked.

"Yeah," Mario answered. "Wait... we want a lawyer and want to get out of this chicken coop!"

"Ah birds," Chuck sighed. "Anyways, you got a lawyer, follow me." He unlocked their cage and let them out.

"Mario," Toadsworth whispered. "Find my nephew, Dane T., please!"

They were led on from a high metal walkway below which was a room without a ceiling. Taken there, the brothers were thrust into tables and chairs bolted into the floor. On the opposite side of them was a single black chair in which a sole blue haired male sat. He rose when the two brothers came in, still ushered by Chuck. His blue hair, which seemed to be natural, was sleeked back into a ponytail. His suit made him look like he could be on the cover of Vogue and on the table was a lizardskin briefcase. He gave the two an ingratiating smile, but did not summon for Chuck to leave. "Hi guys! C'mon in and siddown," he greeted with a Manhattan-heavy accent. "I'm Ludwig von... y'know, forget the surname, I didn't read yours, forget mine! I'm from Lazard, Sauraus and Dactyl Incorporated!" He handed them each a business card and extended his hand out for them to shake it. Neither did but stared at the card as if to determine it's authenticity.

"Who sent you? You from the city?" Mario asked.

"You see, Mario, I'm from a little bit of everywhere," Ludwig responded. "A little bit of everywhere in all of us that can't see somebody wrongfully accused!"

"Yeah I bet? When do we get to meet the head honcho in charge of all this now," Mario said in a mockery, but the man in front of him did not seem to get that and just went on.

"Who, the Bowser? You mean the main man? The head honcho? El Supremo?" asked Ludwig. The man was quickly getting on Luigi and Mario's nerves. He was too... eccentric! "You must be talking about the Bowser. I assume you want to meet President King Koopa?"

"President King Koopa? What kind of a stupid name is that?" questioned Mario.

"Wait, that's the guy whose name is on all of the money!" Luigi pointed out. "We want to meet him."

"I don't think you do," Ludwig responded and when he spoke next, his voice was lowered. "You see, Koopa is one mean egg sucking bastard of wreck. Trust me on this."

"I need to ask some questions. Procedure, you understand," Ludwig started. "I believe the reason you guys are here is because you were following a young lady?"

"What young lady?" Luigi asked. If this lawyer knew about that, there was no trusting him. "Say, aren't you a bit young to be a lawyer. You seem my age."

"Don't slither me, man," Ludwig shook his head. "I know her name is Daisy. I just want the facts. Age?"

"I don't know," Luigi truthfully stated. "Twenty, I'd wager."

"Parents?" Ludwig asked silkily.

"She's an orphan," Luigi answered, his voice low.

On the walkway above them, they heard the clatter of feet. Mario and Luigi looked up, not noticing Ludwig's constant gaze. It was a whole bunch of different girls of all shapes and sizes herded by female officers. Bertha was not one of the officers. "Can you see her?" Ludwig asked, his gaze on Luigi's eyes.

Luigi turned to whisper to Mario. "I don't trust this guy. His demeanor... it's too cold blooded." Ludwig's hearing was extraordinary, even better than Iggy and Spike's. He smiled at the remark.

"The sooner we find her the sooner you can go... _home_," Ludwig suggested. Then Daisy walked on the walkway, looking pale and crushed among the many girls missing. How many had those two taken? Mario wondered the exact number, calculating the months inside, but the mathematics were not going to calm him down. He needed a way out, but he could not betray his brother. He had to prove that his ideals were true.

"LUIGI!" Daisy cried when she looked down the walkway. Both brothers looked in frustration as if she had done the wrong thing, but it dawned on them almost instantly, what could they have done? Chuck was in the room with weapons and this Ludwig fellow was too shady to be trusted. Luigi's thoughts were confirmed when the man spoke.

"There she is," his true accent revealed and it was New York. Strange that these people had so many parallels but only believed in the actual New York as a myth. "Release the others, where I don't care. My father only wants her." One of the female guards grabbed Daisy and began to drag her protesting body down the other end of the walkway.

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Luigi screamed and jumped on Ludwig. Putting his wrists together, he started to garotte the man's throat but was speared down by Chuck.

"None can touch Ludwig von Koopa, royal son of our great President, King Koopa!" roared Chuck, as if the dialogue had been indoctrinated into his brain. "On your knees when you address Prince Ludwig!"

"Now, now, we haven't official turned royal," wheezed Ludwig.

"You're the son of Koopa, but you said -," Mario was actually shocked.

"That he was one mean egg sucking bastard of wreck," Ludwig reitered. "I know what I said, and given wreck is a synonym for Dark Land, where my father hails from... just look at how badass I am, do you really think I would be lying?" He turned on his heels and walked away.

Chuck picked Luigi up to his feet and began to escort him and Mario into another room. They walked a bit of a distance this time. In the end, though, they were completely taken aback and shocked. They were in a high roofed, windowless and sinister chamber. There was a bank of controls and gauges situated in the center of the room, with the middle leading into an elevated track ending in a control pod. It opened and a chair was catapulted onto the rails. It was akin to an old dentists' chair with a neck brace and hand cufflinks. A goomba was strapped into it.

The brothers looked around and down walked a woman, younger than Ludwig, blonde, but powerful and dominating looking walk in. The brothers did not focus on her, though, but rather on the device - or rather, contraption - in front of them. The goomba was helped from the chair by two others, he was groggy and jelly limbed. "If you asked me which mammal could take out which brother of mine, I would of course say Iggy," the girl claimed. "But Ludwig. You dirty mammals got him by surprise." She turned to a figure beside her, a boy, about twelve years old. "This is my younger brother Larry, it's time to show him what an ape is.

"And just who the hell are you?" Mario retorted.

"I am Princess Wendy Koopa, mind your tongue cretin!" she said sternly. "You may understand evolution to be a simple process, which, given your brain size, you may even know less of. It is a process of change, things evolve from primeval slime to single celled organisms up to intelligent life. Of course, de-evolution goes the other way around. Given that Dinohattan has limited resources and we don't want to fuel in from Dark Land, you should know that we take the undesirables and prisoners and turn them into... goombas, because you see, de-evolution doesn't work by natural selection, it works by artificially selected organism." Larry pulled a lever and the pod doors opened again, but instead of just the dentist chair, out came a goomba, straightjacketed and tied up. Escorted out, he looked around stupidly as the other goombas led him away.

"What the hell did you evolve from that makes you and all your brothers so especial?" Mario asked.

"Why, the Tyrannosaurus Rex, the kings and queens of the world in their age, of course. Thus, I am lizard royalty," Wendy said as a matter of factually. An idea came to her and she asked her brother, in a much more kind voice, "How about a demonstration?"

"Who should we choose?" he asked. His voice was still that of a child's, obviously he had not hit puberty.

"Bring me... anyone!" she told Chuck. He left the room and came in with a random figure.

"You may know these, as I was informed you were talking with Toadsworth," Wendy said. The brothers looked at the figure and saw he was wearing a cap like the old man, but it was red and white. "When he came here years ago, these... Toads... came with him. Put him in! My father's new kingdom has an important rule of recycling. As stated, we take people from the prisons and make them goombas!" The Toad was strapped in and screamed as the electricity surged into him. His features began to change, slightly, and smoke covered him. When he awoke, he was like the goomba they saw before, and the one before that! Disgustingly dinosauric...

"An alternate dimension where dinosaurs never died out," Luigi sighed. "Who knew..." Larry turned the dial all the way and the smoke cleared. The Toad stepped out and aside for a faint fluorescent glow, seemed the same. Then he took a step and split into a violet hued liquid like the senator from the first X-Men movie.

"You obliterated him!" Mario yelled at Larry.

"You do not talk to my brother like that!" said a third voice. A gigantic and imposing figure entered the room, Mario and Luigi figured him to be yet another brother. He was not particularly large, but could give trouble, Mario and Luigi supposed.

"Ah, Roy, are you done attending with Lemmy's shenanigans? I need your help here," Wendy sighed.

"No," Roy, the third Koopa child, said. "But I was passing through and these are the plumbers Iggy brought? How insolent! Obliterated? How stupid! He was turned into ooze, practically immortal. I've seen it work on lizards and hybrids like the toads, but Wendy, it'll be interesting to see it on a fully grown mammal, now won't it."

"Yes it will," and another one entered. This one was too guessed to be another brother. This one was small, smaller than Larry, but he looked older.

"Ah, Lemmy," Roy proclaimed. "I want you to watch this. Maybe if you don't quit your tricks, I'll turn you into one of these as well!" This was it for Mario. He knew it was the end, so what was the hope in trying to fight back. Breaking free of his bonds, he punched Roy in the face. "What was that? A baby punch?" Mario tried again. "If it doesn't hurt me? It'll probably hurt you trying to hit my brother Morton!" Luigi ran to try and help his brother, but was zapped down by Chuck. Chuck then tried to zap Mario, but he jumped up and the blast hit Roy in the knee, causing him to stagger. Taking the chance, Luigi jumped on Chuck, knocking him down a few notches. Mario pushed Roy into the devo machine as his brothers and sister watched, aghast.

"STOP HIM!" Wendy ordered Lemmy, who tried to jump on Mario, but was pushed out of the air by Luigi. Turning the dial, sparks began to fly and the machine began to affect the Koopaling.

"OFF! TURN IT OFF!" Roy roared. Lemmy ran out of the room, looking for either Ludwig or his other brother, Morton Jr. (President Koopa's middle name was Morton). In a second, a giant figure, at least Wilt Chamberlain tall, and slightly tanned burst into the room. As he pulled his brother out, who began to have a greenish hue to his skin, Mario and Luigi hauled their asses out of there.


	12. Chapter 12

His name was President King Bowser Morton Koopa. He was president to signify his rule over Dinohattan, no matter how mammalian he thought the title was. He was called King to signify power, a name given to him by his father, the Kerog of Dark Land. He was called Bowser because the name was given to him by Murphy, the previous president of Dinohattan. He was called Morton because it was the alias he used on the surface. He was called Koopa because it went full circle and Koopa meant Tyrannosaurus Rex. He was power incarnate. Born in Dark Land to the royal Koopa line, King had been sent out by his father to study military tactics in Dinohattan. Being a Koopa, King excelled and became good friends with President Murphy, who bestowed upon him the title of Bowser. In recent years, though, people were calling him a false Bowser, believing him to be unworthy of the title. When he saw the surface world of New York City, he attempted to recreate Dinohattan in it's image, creating cars, subway transits and skyscrapers. He was going to sanitize the desert, if it were not for that fungus! At forty-five years old he had accomplished that which most people did at the ages of sixty to seventy. His eldest son, Ludwig, was twenty-two years old and set to inherit the throne. Bowser had made a dynasty, a kingdom and become his own man, no longer clinging on the shadow of his father or the money of King K. Rool.

In his castle, Bowser's Castle, towering crystalline windows overlooked the city. On one side of the room was a command center, which contained several computer consoles. On the other side was the bedroom, with a spacious bed, a banquet table and a sunken pit with a bar. The marble floor was strewn with torn sheets, gutted pillows and empty bottles. A fiercely sexual female creature lay stretched on the floor, panting in exhaustion, her reptile skin dress clinging in tatters. She was Lena, the second wife of the king. Across the room was Koopa himself, his brow covered with sweat. He was coldblooded, though, it did not bother him. Dressed in a black warlord's robe, his hair was spiked up. It was pale blonde, though for a second, Lena could've sworn she saw it flare red. "That was incredible," Lena proclaimed. "Now... let's have sex."

Looking at the egg in front him, it was his and Lena's child: Bowser Jr. There was never going to be any King Jr., because Koopa knew that that name was reserved for himself. The name Bowser no longer belonged to the Presidential line, which was royalty all in itself, all Koopa was going to do after the birth of his son, was make it official. Many called Koopa cruel, even Rool himself, but they could not deny one thing, he cared a lot for his children. Bowser Jr. Koopa was going to be the first child of King's in fifteen years, he would be a great conqueror, maybe even powerful enough to take out Rool himself. Walking over to the window, Koopa looked down philosophically. "We're losing our backbone as a people, Lena! There're citizens down there eating vegetables! Even fruit! When a race stops devouring flesh they are made for the museum!"

"You think your princess can change all of this?" Lena sulkily asked. She was not looking forward to being a mother, she believed it took away from her youth. She was thirty-five, only ten years elder to her oldest stepson, Ludwig. She detested them. The fact that her husband's kingdom was to be divvied up amongst her son and Ludwig. She hated that music playing bastard, born to King's first wife.

"If I don't, we are lost," he proclaimed. He was especially fit, stronger than any of his children, though in his own estimates, Ludwig would grow more powerful than him eventually. The thing about Koopa was that most his strength was scientific, he did not rely on Kamek like Ludwig was growing to. Nonethless, the fact that his son aspired to achieve more and more powerful was wonderful. It meant that he had chosen a worthy heir. A discreet buzzer sounded, a monitor showed the faces of Bowser's son Iggy and his cousin Spike. He nodded to Lena who uncoiled herself from the bed and pulled a dial. "If you failed again, Spike, I will have you de-evolved, damned be what my father says," Bowser proclaimed. Spike noted how the president berated him and not Iggy. Perhaps it was because Iggy was a son of the president and he simply the mere cousin.

"We've found the girl, dad," Iggy revealed.

"Really, another girl?" Bowser sighed. "I didn't ask for you to supply me a harem, Iggy! I asked for one girl! The right girl!"

"We know it's her, Ludwig got her to identify herself, except...," Spike's voice trailed off.

"Except what 'cousin'?" Bowser's voice sounded so angry, Iggy could've sworn he saw

"It wasn't our fault - it was Wendy, Roy, Larry and Lemmy - she was followed through the gateway!" Iggy nervously said. "They were big guys, they jumped us! Two of them! they tried to devolve Roy!"

"What a bunch of invertebrates!" Lena declared.

"We go them arrested but Roy screwed up and they escaped!" Iggy tried to reason with his father, whose glare was legendary at that point in time.

"Boy I'm going to forgive you now, I'll deal with these mammals later," Bowser said violently. "Is Daisy in her room?" Iggy nodded. "Good. Now leave." The Koopaling and his uncle both departed.

"You've been acting strange," Lena noted. "Do you feel different?"

"I've been testing the devo machine," Bowser told her. "K. Rool transformed into a giant lizard and retained his conscience. He cannot turn back. All of these changes you've been seeing, it's me. I'm trying to figure out a way that'll allow me to turn all the way back to a prehistoric ooze and back whilst retaining my mind. So to answer your question, I feel better if anything. Energized. Invigorated." He picked up a printout of the brain scan Spike left on his drawer. "She's the one. The brain scan confirms it."

"You don't care that these men have made a fool out of all your children?" Lena asked, her eyes flashing with anger and jealousy.

"No one makes a fool out of the Koopalings!" King Bowser Koopa roared. "The plumbers escaped because my men are incompetent!" During this moment of rage, something happened to Bowser. His brow began to protrude outwards and his eyes began to widen. His skin turned yellowish and his hair bright red and his teeth were pure sharp. Lena gasped at the sight and he quickly reverted back. "What are you staring at?" he asked. Turning to the mirror to see if there was anything on his face, Bowser never saw his transformation.

* * *

The elevator purred as it's two lacquered doors opened to reveal Daisy, accompanied by a thug. His name tag identified him as Lakitu. Prodding her forward into the room, the elevator doors closed behind her, leaving her alone. The people, although they had held her captive, had been nice to her. She had bathed and washed & combed her hair. In the new ankle-length dress, though, she considered that she looked vulnerable and perhaps even virginal. The lights dimmed and cast an eerie yet seductive glow around the suit. Hearing the sound again, Daisy was shocked and startled to see a six foot saurian right behind her, looking at her carefully. As it moved towards her, Daisy backed away. "Don't worry, Yoshi won't hurt you," said a familiar voice. Daisy turned around to see a man, about her age. Thinking back, she remembered, this was the man interrogating Mario and Luigi, the very man who identified her. "Don't be afraid, Yoshi won't hurt you," he said. "My grandfather sent them here, his companion his deal with King Rool let him the forces to conquer their island. You can go ahead and touch him, just try not to move your fingers around like a small wounded animal. He's got quite the tongue."

"I can't believe it," Daisy exclaimed. "Dinosaurs died almost sixty six million years ago."

"Correct Daisy," he applauded. "Sigma is a strange star, the only one both of our planets can see. I suspect that the asteroid that hit the Yucatan, also something both our planets share - the blast impact crater - split the universe into two parallel dimensions."

"Who are you?" Daisy asked, turning her mind away from all the crazy sci fi nonsense.

"My name is Ludwig von Koopa," he answered. "I have the privilege of being the heir to... well... anything I can see, really."

"If you saw your city from the street you might think differently," Daisy pointed out.

"Oh, I rarely venture so low," Ludwig responded.

"It's disgusting, decayed and rotten!" Daisy proclaimed.

"Then welcome home, princess," Ludwig held his hands out.

"What the hell are you talking about?" she asked.

"Your mother came from here," Ludwig answered. "It's why my brother and uncle had to bring you back."

"My mother? Is she still alive?" Daisy asked.

"I'm afraid not," Ludwig slowly, and cautiously said. "She... was a gatekeeper between this world and the next... she had special powers and her family had a special position in society, back when things weren't like you saw. She took you to that world of mammals. I was a child when all that happened, I can't remember any of it. I wouldn't have cared if she betrayed that trust, but the orders came from the completion of the contract with Rool, from above my father and grandfather. I have a chance to fix all of this, do you have _it_?" Ludwig put a finger to her neck, to indicate what he shuddered as his hand came near.

"It feels, strange? Warm?" he asked. "That's because your hair, your skin. It's not like that. Your hair are tiny mico-fiber feathers, why do you think you only have them on your head? Your skin, very soft scales... do _they_ have it? Did they take it from you?" The way he pronounced his words, as if he had a Bronx accent but had the inflections so lazily said, was disgusting. "Maybe your friends do have it, maybe you should know what my father will do. Or perhaps you should just watch the television." With that he left.


	13. Chapter 13

The brothers' feet clattered on the metal ladders and they ran into the door in front of them, taking them to the police officer's parking lot. About a dozen cars, their antennae linked up to the mesh above. Getting in to one of the cop cars, Luigi commented. "You don't know how to drive this."

"A car is a car," Mario reasoned. Throwing some switches on the strange automobile, the electricity flared through the cable. "All right, lets hit the bricks!" Speeding the car forward, they noticed the goombas descending upon them. Seeing the yellow and black gate coming down, Mario rammed through it and started to make the way back to the city. Fishtailing into heavy traffic, Mario swore, "Find the siren." Luigi started mashing around some buttons and hit the radio. Very quickly they found the cops were aware of their escape. Just as the cops began to make it out of the precinct, the siren came to life and traffic in front of them began to clear. Seeing two cars come near them, Mario and Luigi were shocked as two pistols were reared towards them. Using the car's bumper "capabilities" Mario rammed into both of them to throw them off. The two cop cars fired, Mario hit the brakes and turned. With a passing glance Luigi saw something, he believed the two cops to have shot each other. Swerving to avoid the carnage of the traffic, they listened closely to the radio as they began to plan out their next move to avoid the cops getting to them. Heading for a blocked off tunnel, he heard Luigi go "no, no, no" and sped up. The only way to avoid the cops was to go somewhere they hopefully would not go.

Splintering the barrier. The police car sped into the dark depths of the tunnel. The rod waved uselessly as it broke contact with the power gird and slowly, the car began to run on it's reserve electricity before dying. The windshield, crazed with a web of cracked glass, was broken as Luigi kicked it apart. The lights of the car illuminated the tunnel, which Luigi quickly identified as being part of a gigantic water pump. It's walls were lined with fungus all over, blocking any obvious water supply. The car's lights began to fade and soon it's motor did as well. "We're not on the grid! We've lost power! I knew you shouldn't have brought us here!" Luigi yelled at his brother. Ignoring his little brother, Mario Segale looked around with the last light and saw a switch for auxiliary power, hitting it, the car slowly hummed back to life on reserve electricity once again. Slowly, but surely, they sped out of the tunnel and into the cold Koopahari Desert.

* * *

As morning reached, for what seemed like the millionth time, the sun once again failed to hit the morning breeze, with it's glow barely making it past the thick clouds, giving them a sickly yellowish glow. The clout in the sky seemed treacherous and if one inspected it closely, they would realize that the clouds were holding back the rain as they were filled with spores. Some good herbicide would help clear it up and let the sun once again fall down, but these people did not know of it. Wind was the only noise, it was strong enough to have half buried the police car throughout the night, though only the back half. With barely any light coming on the brothers from the shattered windshield, they slept. A terrifying plant like creature flew across them, the flapping of it's leaf-like wings wakening the brothers. "Get outta here!" Luigi screamed and jumped through the windshield. Mario saw the flying plant and too ran out.

"I ain't getting eaten by Petey Pirahna!" he declared and the two brothers ran off.

The bird-like-plant left them alone, but it appeared to keep a watch on from the distance. "Where are we?" Luigi asked, again.

"You keep asking that!" Mario snapped. "We're in some Koopa Kingdom! Some Dinohattan as they call it! A place where dinosaurs became men!"

Reaching a top of a sand dune, one watching could slowly see their heads come into view. They could slowly see Dinohattan come into view. Seeing it for the first time in perspective was astonishing. It was almost exactly like Manhattan Island, except the aqueducts which would form the river around the city were all dried up and Mario looked around and realized. There was more to this place! Much of this desert would actually have been a river that connected to a larger area! Instead, it was not surrounded by water but rather waste. Looking further they saw an imposing tower-like-castle of tyranny. Probably King Koopa's castle, Mario figured. It's top was obscured by a strange smog. "Looks like someone nuked New Jersey," Luigi nonchalantly said.

"I feel like a jerk," Mario came out and said, regretting all he had said to Luigi.

"Don't, it was my fault," Luigi apologized. "I got us into this entire mess."

"Yeah, but it was me that flooded that tunnel," Mario responded.

"So what're we gonna do now?" Luigi asked. "We got no food or water or juice?"

"Whatever it takes," Mario declared. "Who are we?"

"The Super Mario Brothers."

Their confident mood was suddenly shattered by the whirr of a helicopter, which came near to investigate what looked like two red and green figures. A door slid open, but it was not a gun, but a video camera. "Oh no, I've watched enough American Gladiator to know what this is," Mario said. With the lens focusing, they began to run down with Mario realizing that Ludwig or whoever was interrogating them had just placed a bounty on their heads. They could hear a bit of the broadcast coming from the helicopter, but only a slight bit of it. Something about games. Mario knew he was right. Heading towards the city, Mario took the flamethrower he picked up from the cop car and leveraged it at something he saw in the distance. From the deep throated roar of engines, several black vehicles showed up. It was an assortment of vehicles, from trucks to tanks, the brothers threw a glance at each other but said nothing. "I wanted to say something, kid, I'm sorry I dragged you into plumbing after everything at the uni didn't turn up good."

"What're you talking about?" Luigi asked.

"You could've done something better with your life."

"Mario, I love my life," Luigi responded. "I love plumbing with you, and I'd love to keep doing it. So lets get the hell out of here!" The moment unified them, Mario shed any last bit of guilt that he had and with stoical resolve, they faced what appeared to be their imminent destruction. The frontrunners looked at Mario and Luigi for a second and then turned their attention to each other. They realized it, they could destroy the brothers, but with so many around so many would claim the bounty. They started firing on each other, tank shells going everywhere. The noise was deafening. One vehicle, however, decided to take advantage of the war and began to zig zag through the chaos and make it's way towards the brothers. It was an armoured car driven by goombas and on the end of it appeared to be a harpoon gun. One of the goombas scrambled out and somehow did not fall down, but rather made his way to the gun. Firing, the net enmeshed Luigi within it and the plumber stumbled down. Horrified, Mario ran to his younger brother. His pursuit was desperate, but not in vain as the other teams saw the malicious victory of the goombas. In their pleasure, they did not realize another team closed in on them and with the shot of a rocket, that team was gone. The remaining goombas took out what looked like uzis and began to trade fire. It gave Mario enough time to torch through the net with the flamethrower and get Luigi out. The exchange let some of the slower vehicles catch up to the front lines, but the artillery was slowing everyone down.

Within the thick black smoke that formed, Mario took Luigi out of the net and they both began to run. When they both began to run out of the smoke, it was in vain for right in front of they saw Larry and Lemmy, two of the "Koopalings" present at the devo chamber, train their weapons on Luigi. Mario put his flamethrower against them. "Try it plumber and your brother is going to be riddled with bullets."

"Taste it big brother," Larry said to Lemmy, even though his elder brother was shorter in stature than he. "How proud dad is going to be that we did something that his precious Ludwig couldn't do. Maybe he'll make us dual heirs!"

"Oh yeah," Lemmy agreed.

Suddenly there was the sound of a deep throated dune buggy encroaching upon the four brothers. Luigi only got a glimpse of the driver, he was wearing goggles. The Koopalings flung themselves out of it's path and the buggy fell, cushioned in the sand. The driver put a blow dart to his lips and sent the darts out at Larry and Lemmy. The two fell to the ground, writhing in pain. "My name is Dane T., I need to ask you guys some questions so get in!" he cried. The two brothers complied and then got a look at his bandana, it was just like Toadsworth's, but it was white with red polkas.

"Thanks man!" Mario shouted. "Are they dead?" He gestured to the inert bodies of Lemmy and Larry, the two overeager saurian teenagers.

"Kill the sons of Bowser? That's suicide!" remarked Dane Toad. "No, they're just knocked out." The Toad put to the pedal to the metal and sped them away from the chaos, not noticed by any.


	14. Chapter 14

Mario and Luigi looked at the city once again in shock at the cesspool of filth and muck that made up the city of Dinohattan. A sinister looking black helicopter, not like the one they had seen previously, was leaving the city. It went past what appeared to be a gigantic statue in a forest of swampy vegetation. It was of a giant female lizard, resembling the Statue of Liberty in many ways. Only that the lower hand held a pistol and that the upper hand held a burning book. The spikes on her crown continued back down to her tail... "The last construction that President Murphy ever ordered, finished under the reign of Koopa," Toad told them, aware that they were both in awe.

Making their way to Dane's hideout, they found it to be a quarry, no longer used. The dune buggy went under a carport, a tarp strung up over four poles. Making their way into his hole, they saw that every inch of it was covered with paraphernalia. What was not on the ground was suspended from the ceiling. There was everything: miner's hats, bicycle frames, pick axes, bizarre musical instruments and some photos which showed there were many more Toads in the city. The brothers sat down on rickety chairs, Dane Toad moved over to a rusting mine cart and took out three bottles and handed two to the brothers. "You got any glasses?" Mario asked.

"No," Dane answered. "You're supposed to sniff it, it's an inhalant that'll put your strength up. Not like anabolics or anything, it's an ingredient from the Sthuul Kingdom. If you drink it you'll suffer profound melancholia for a week. If you inhale it, well, you'll be three times stronger than you normally are." Mario took a quick sniff and tried to hide his distaste, but he could not deny it was very good smelling. "On my police radio, I got that you guys escaped from the precinct. Tell me, how many of my kind, Toads, were in there?"

"There was one old guy, your name is Dane T., right?" Luigi asked.

"Dane Toad, that's right."

"Yeah, an old guy, Steward Toadsworth I think," Luigi responded. "He told us to find you if we escaped, but, quite frankly, you found us."

"All right, so he's okay."

"Excuse me," Mario interfered. "But what are you exactly?"

"Half-mammal, half-reptile," Toad answered. "I came here with about fifty other of my tribesmen, Toads you can call us. Many are dead now, my uncle, Steward Toadsworth, not his real name, but... most of us have assimilated. If they scan us, they can tell most of our hair isn't micro-fiber feathers but hair. When there were rivers leading out to Rogueport and all, we came as ambassadors, willing to colonize an embassy on behalf of King Sthuul. About a year in, though, King Koopa became Bowser and took over and he's the new President."

"What's the deal with this Bowser anyhow?" Mario asked. "We've seen his picture everywhere! Always running for president but with a different subtitle, doesn't anyone run against him?"

"He does," Toad answered. "Look, I come from a kingdom so this is my only experience with democracy. I hate it."

"So you can elect anyone so long as it's Koopa?" Mario wanted to make sure.

"Do the Bowser," Toad confirmed.

"Has it always been like this?" Luigi inquired.

"No," Toad answered. "Back in the day, when I was like, what? A year old, President Murphy was planning on transitioning to a regal system, a monarchy. He was a much better ruler, or so I hear. Basically, Bowser wanted to be the first monarch, I hear, and overthrew him. He modifed their devo machines and made it so that if mutated Murphy into all this fungus. Now that fungus has gotten a grip. From what I believe, his spores are blotting out the sun and clogging the waterways. He is starving this city of it's foundation because he wants to get back what is his. That's just my theory... but with all this fungus, there is no way I'll ever get to Rogueport and on a ship to King Sthuul."

"Look, we've got to get back to the city and rescue Princess Daisy," Luigi revealed. "Can you drop us off?"

"Drop you off?" laughed Dane Toad. "I'll help you!"


	15. Chapter 15

Nearing the city, floodlights illuminated the mountains of garbage and filth covered with fungus. Mushrooms were sprouting everywhere. Huge dump trucks were piling what appeared to be excrement everywhere, then bulldozers pushed it further into an adjacent pit. The drivers wore gas masks and protective clothing, as if they were working with toxic waste. It was reasoned by Mario as possible, given that too much methane could kill a man, easily something cold blooded. Choking on the gas, Toad quickly assured him, "Just relax, it'll fade soon."

Making it to a truck, the driver was raising the rear-end to dump his load with two of his crew helping out the refuse with two long poles. In an instant, they were on the ground, clutching their necks. Mario grabbed a gas mask and pulled the driver out, but grabbed his tunic. Putting it on, he handed a gas mask to Luigi and another to Toad. Making their way to a gate, they were registered by the guardsmen and allowed passage through. "Okay, guys. This Daisy, the only reason Bowser could want her is if the tells on the streets are true," Dane said. "From what I hear, she's the daughter of a portal keeper to your world, meaning she can manipulate some sort of a crystal. That true? I mean, you guys know her."

"Yeah," Luigi affirmed. "She had a crystal, but some lady cop took it." They then reacted to the looming statue ahead of them.

"The Statue of Repression, I told you, made by President Murphy," Dane revealed. "He was turning into something of a tyrant, so when Bowser overthrew him it was all good and all. I believe though, that his tyranny and transition into monarchy was just because, well, y'know, his wife died around that time, missing. He'd go back to his normal good self, though. Forget that, though. If some female cop took the crystal, she'll probably be hanging out at the Boom Boom Bar. It's a joint for cops and sometimes goombas."

"We don't look like either and we smell," Luigi pointed out.

"There's a shower in that house, abandoned, owner is now a goomba," Dane pointed to the side. The brothers squeezed in through the door, both took quick showers and put on borrowed clothes. They slicked their hair back with grease. Mario was wearing a read suit with blue pants and Luigi green overalls and a white shirt. Luigi's cap was white and Mario's was red. Making their way to the bar, all Mario could see was another redneck joint. Fights everywhere.

"I don't see her," Luigi remarked.

"Maybe she's in the private club," Dane suggested, pointing upwards to the ceiling. Leading them up a metal staircase, only a faint music sound alerted them that there still was a club beneath them. The masonry was rotted from fungus and tiny lizard-rats scurried beneath them. Reaching a black thick door, they pushed it open to reach disco and music galore. Everything was pumping and the lighting was red. The dancers seemed like they were from the fifties. They saw her on the dance floor, she was out of uniform squeezed into a rubbery tight snakeskin dress. The crystal flared around her neck as she danced. Mario was horrified at the sight. Luigi saw the crystal too and pointed out to her, the facets of the crystal's surface reacting negatively with the strobe lights. "Leave this to me," Toad claimed. "Here's the run. I ask her for a drink, slip something into it, and do it with hr."

"Do it with her?" Mario asked, unable to get the disgusting image out of his head.

"I mean get the crystal smartass," Toad said. They watched Dane go and approach her, and quickly get short armed across the dance floor.

"Plan B, _let's_ dance," Mario grabbed Luigi and went on to the dance floor. As they began to try and get into the groove of the dance, they also started to try and maneuver themselves closer to Bertha. Suddenly, a very beautiful woman cut in between the brothers and got to Mario and began gyrating on him, sending him a very seductive smile.

"Let's dactyl down!" she exclaimed and her whims had ensnared Mario, much to Luigi's discomfort. Toad pulled Luigi off the floor, looking incredibly pissed off.

"Does your brother know who he's dancing with?" Dane questioned.

"No," Luigi pointed out. "Why? Is she married?"

"Yeah," Toad answered. "She's also soon to be a mother to her husband's eighth child. Her husband is Bowser! That is Lena!"

"Wait, if she's about to be a mother how come she isn't pregnant?" asked Luigi. "Or look it."

"She doesn't have mammalian insides like you and I, she laid an egg," Toad answered. Mario and her dance reacted with a ripple of applause across the dance floor. The other dancers, including Bertha, began to move apart to give the two room. At that moment they were hot, happening and with the pulsing music, the floor was practically jumping. "Oh shit!" shouted Toad, noting Lena's hand gestures. "I don't what she's doing here, but she's telepathed the goombas from her wedding ring." Sure enough, goombas surrounded the dance floor. "As soon as the dance stops, they will cuff your brother." Frustrated, Luigi thought about how to get out of this one, just as the music was making it's way to a crescendo. Pushing through the crowd, Luigi looked up at the disco ball. Rising hysteria as the dance climaxed, a few beads of sweat trickled down Mario's forehead and onto Lena's near exposed breasts. Jumping up to the DJ's table, Luigi leaped into the air and grabbed on to the disco ball. The crowd gasped and he sailed over their heads, landing squarely on one goomba and knocking the other three down.

Smelling a fight, the cops joined in and attacked the goombas head on. Pandemonium was unleashed and in the strobes a practically psychadellic Lena was pointlessly screaming orders. Very soon, Bertha joined in the fight, swinging at everything and anything. A goomba grabbed her neck, snapping the crystal's cord. It clinked and fell to the floor, Mario and Luigi quickly got down the floor to try and get it. With it being difficult to know what was real in the hallucinatory mayhem, Luigi cried out in frustration when a foot kicked the crystal away from his hand. Mario crawled through the feet and found the crystal, hands on it, a boot came smashing down on his wrist. Letting go and screaming in pain, the brother looked up at Lena. Her dress was turn and she was practically in her lingerie. Her smile was triumphant, though, and she picked up the crystal and in her leather boots began to walk away. Luigi grabbed Mario's collar and yanked him away. "I don't have the pendant!" Mario cried.

"Forget it!" Luigi claimed. Seeing Toad gesturing to them, they followed him. Lena helplessly looked around the room to see where they had gone, and when she realized they had disappeared screamed at the goomba captain to find them. Rushing past a startled hatcheck girl, Toad pulled out two bottles and quickly shoved them at the guys faces.

"There, you can jump real high now boys!" Toad claimed. Ignoring the girl's protests, the smashed through a door and entered a room packed with crates, barrels, metal trays and towels. Aside from the skylight fourteen feet above them, there was no way out. "Let's jump!" Toad stated and as if it was a miracle, jumped to one end of the wall and up to the other. So continued until he smashed through the skylight. "It's in the mushroom bottle!" he explained. Mario, confused, followed his stead and so did Luigi.


	16. Chapter 16

The street was a darkened refuge from the buzz of the city. In the looming skyline was Koopa Tower, the Mario Brothers were planning a heist, but given the failure of their last operation, who knew how this one would turn out. "They've got electronic surveillance and goombas on each floor, the girl is going to be at the top," Toad claimed.

They all looked at each other, it was a daunting prospect and the job would not be easy. "It's not going to be easy," Luigi said.

"Yeah," Mario concurred.

"Here - listen - take this," Toad said and he placed a tiny miniscule object in Mario's hand. It was black, had a winder, eyes and legs. "It's cute but it's one bad bitch."

"I don't have kids," Mario flatly said.

"It's not for kids!" Toad said, his eyes flaring. "This can blow a city block apart! I have one of few Koopa didn't destroy. There's a sulphate reaction inside! Huge MOAB!"

"Thanks," Mario said and they kicked open a manhole cover, prepared to traverse through the sewers. Descending down a metal ladder, the hum of electronics was music to Mario's ears.

"Mario, I got another surprise for you!" Toad claimed. "I know a couple people in Metro Central, subversives like me! Here you go!" Hitting a panel on the wall, Mario's toolbelt fell out. Mario's eyes began to glow, he grabbed the toolbelt.

"You don't know what that meant to him," Luigi remarked. "It's like Batman finding his cape!"

"Nothing can stop us now!" Mario shouted.

* * *

Bowser was lying down in a Roman bath, the water up to his neck. A white robe lay on the marble steps that led to it. He was relaxing himself, trying to ignore himself from the failure of his sons and cousins. He was annoyed, this made it all better. Lena entered the room. Not dressed like she was at the discotheque, but rather she wore nothing at all, the lights highlighting her magnificent features. "I told my guards I did not wish to be disturbed." Koopa said without opening his eyes.

"I ignored them," Lena explained.

"They'll pay for that."

"I think not."

He opened his eyes. She held up her hand. His eyes narrowed. Something was glinting in her hand. She opened it and swung it back and forth before tying it around her neck. Bowser was entranced, Lena came up to him and planted a kiss on him. Their eyes lock, lips locked, then part and Lena licked her husband seductively.

* * *

Making his way to the Koopa Tower boiler room, Mario holstered a pry bar. It had not taken them long to get to the boiler room, due to the lack of water, guards were not stationed there any more. Those that were snuck off duty, so the whole path was clear. Mario compared the engine room to that of the Titanic, it was huge. There were pipes and valves everywhere, brick boulders, brass gauges and copper controls. The pistons thrusted, the steam hissed and furnace blasted. By Luigi's judgment, the room controlled the building's water, heat and ventilation. It seemed that the fungus was finally beginning to encroach on the tower, given that it covered the entire boiler room but was only covering the pipes. It seemed Koopa had a supply of water that was becoming more and more rare to the denizens of the city. "Look at the state of these pipes!" remarked Luigi.

"It's non-union work," Mario claimed. Moving to a control panel, they viewed a computerized rendition of the tower's schematics. Visible to them were waterways, stairwells, floor plans, elevator shafts, the heating complex and ventilation system. Stabbing a finger at the screen, Mario easily identified the main vent pipe. "There, that'll take me straight to the top and to Koopa." Opening the pipe, he saw what seemed to be an endless system with a metal ladder leading up. Opening it, however, he tripped the alarm. "You've got to slow them down," Mario told Luigi. A siren started to sound and lights began to flash above the doors that led into the main tower. Luigi raced across the room, ducking under pipes and swerving past valves, making his way to the main circuitry board. Luigi whistled as he scoped a whole lot of different coloured wires, but if civil engineering taught him anything, it was wires. Pulling the wires out in a flash of blue sparks, Luigi easily shut the alarm and the lights dimmed, running on reserve power. Now only the lights flashed red, with no identifiable place of emergency.

The brothers continued their sabotage and Toad needed to duck when a timely explosion set off. Cracks appeared in the pipework, instrument panels went crazy, circuits fused and gauges oscillated wildly as the entire power system for the building began to malfunction. "Someone is going to make triple overtime fixing this job," Luigi laughed. The brothers hugged in their moment of triumph, it was a small victory, though. Man-shaking with Toad, Mario said, "You take care man, I can't get you into any more trouble than this."

"All right, fine by me," Toad said. "Just remember, take out Bowser no matter the cost." With that, the half-human was gone. Also, the brothers began their long climb into the shaft.


	17. Chapter 17

Ludwig materialized from the shadows. He quietly watched Daisy in the shadows in vain. She loved the human, he knew it and it angered him. She was talking to Yoshi, yammering something about how she wished he could talk. Ludwig stepped forward, acting as if the yoshi did not exist and addressed Daisy. "For sixty five million years Daisy our kind has been exiled," he started. It was a grandiose speech he had concocted, to try and get Daisy to his side. "Now it is time for us to retain our rightful place on this planet. My stepmother has got the crystal, _your_ crystal. With it, my father can reunite the dimensions!" He got Daisy's attention with that, she was curious. "Reptiles were the most successful species while these mammals were still squirming underground. You and I Daisy, we are the legacy of the world!" No, he realized, power did not appeal to her, sympathy did. "I thought about what you said to me on Dinohattan. I went down there to check it out and it is far different than what my father says. Yes, my city is dying. The fungus is salting the ground, choking the air and killing the water. Our resources for all of them are nearly consumed... but here, at the center of it all, is a gateway to another world, the world you came from!"

It was almost as if Daisy knew what he was planning. "That is my world," she adamantly stated. A tick of frustration showed up in Ludwig's normally calm demeanor.

"You belong here," he claimed, in vain. "Deep inside you've known you were different! Not even that Luigi could convince you otherwise! This is our home! You've known that you were a stranger and I feel sorry that I couldn't be there to help you. I'm not like my brother or father, Daisy, believe me." Daisy wanted to believe otherwise, be even she could not deny Ludwig's voice was hypnotic. They stared into each others eyes, as if they truly did understand each other. "Haven't you ever been fascinated by the past, your true present. By the little things that were larger than everyone but all of you? You and I?" Ludwig reached out and stroked her hair, it seemed to anger Yoshi, but she seemed not to mind. They were interrupted before they could go any further by Roy.

"What do you want?" Ludwig asked his younger brother coldly.

"There are saboteurs in the building," he pointed out, frightened of his brother's startlingly angry reaction. "Father told me to get you on top of it." Ludwig gave Daisy a quick glance and she was thinking, she knew and he knew: Luigi and Mario were in the tower. Regaining his composure, he nodded towards his brother, stepped forward and walked into the elevator. "What do you want with her?" Roy asked. "Father and Lena are going to want her dead after they merge the worlds, she's the only one who can change them back!"

"Grandfather killed his father, I suppose I should restart that cycle because the new world will be mine," Ludwig implied to his younger brother. "I don't have any qualms about eliminating any of your or that meddlesome eighth who will surely come soon."

* * *

Among the cylindrical shaft, the brothers climbed. It was tiring, but they were managing just fine. It was at least eighty floors and the drop seemed to stretch to infinity. Mario quickly stopped for breath, the exertion of the tower was too much. At that moment, Luigi did too. Mario looked up and made a comment, "This filthy stuff is getting thicker. The fungus, I mean." It was true, the ladder above Mario was wrapped up in fungus, it was coiled all over the place and it all led up to a gigantic black tangled mass of mycelium.

"It's only fungus, it won't hurt you," Luigi assured.

"Yeah, well, you ain't getting it in the face," Mario shot back. Starting up again, Mario felt repulsed as it touched him the face and moved around. He'd seen that episode of Hannibal with the mushrooms, the very idea disgusted him. Grabbing on to another rung, Mario nearly fell back as it snapped, saving himself by grabbing the one above. "I wish we had that stuff Toad gave us," Mario sighed. "It's eaten through the metal, we can't go up any further!"

"Look!" Luigi pointed to a shaft, an open one, opposite them. Luigi backed down the ladder as Mario loosed a section of the ladder to reach across to the shaft. "Are you sure that's long enough?" Luigi asked. Mario merely shrugged. With a crack, the elder brother quickly found out he had gotten much more than he bargained for. The section of the ladder came off of the wall and Mario's weight propelled him into the tiny empty void. With inches to spare, the end settled just atop the lip of the shaft. Mario's feet were left hanging beneath it, into empty black space. "Mario!" Luigi screamed.

"Get yourself across! I don't know how long this thing'll hold!" Mario ordered. Luigi quickly scrambled up the ladder and cautiously made his way across the precarious and impromptu bridge. Edging forward on hands and knees, his weight caused it to buckle forward. As the far end inched terrifyingly close the tip, Luigi agonizingly made his way closer and closer, stopping when he saw Mario's pale shaking knuckles. "Quickly, one of us has to make it to that girl!" Mario ordered again. Luigi carried on and upon reaching the comparative safety of the tunnel, quickly turned to help his brother. Mario himself began to edge forward, hand by hand but even though he himself reached the lip, the ladder prevented him from swinging over. "Take my hands and then kick the ladder away!" Mario kept on his orders.

"What if I can't brace myself?" Luigi asked.

"My arms are falling out right now and I'm running on adrenaline so you got to," Mario pleaded. He released one hand without consent and without asking Luigi grabbed it. Pressing his feet against the side of the tunnel, Luigi gave himself some slight purchase. Taking a deep breath, Mario let go of the ladder and Luigi kicked it away, with only his strength preventing his brother's fall. His biceps bulged and veins stressed but with a magnificent effort, Luigi pulled a Batman Begins and pulled Mario right over. With the tunnel's cramped space, they could only crawl. As the tunnel spiraled, Mario noted the ice forming on the sides of the shaft. He realized they had greatly affected the heating system.

Luigi's focus was elsewhere, he was looking through an inspection plate and while the grid obscured most of his view he could make out some details, including what appeared to be the body of a woman. "I think I've found her!" he alerted Mario. His brother only covered his mouth, he pointed out the goomba in the scene. The room was not Daisy's. It was lit only by moonlight from the outside window. The goomba reacted as something metallic hit the flloor, it was a screw. Picking it up and looking up to the vent, Luigi came jumping down on the enemy, felling it. Mario followed suit shortly after and looked around for Daisy. It wasn't her, in fact, it was a plethora of women with a slightly similar resemblance.

"Mario!" came a cry from the crowd. "You came!" A woman came running out, it was Pauline. "Look girls, I told you Mario and his brother Luigi would come for us."

"Where's Daisy?" Luigi asked the goomba.

"Srry," it moaned in anguish. "Yrr princess is innn'nother castle." It laughed disgustingly and was kicked unconscious by the younger brother.

"These are the missing girls from Brooklyn I'd gather," Luigi commented.

"Well Lui, Angelica's from Queens," corrected Pauline. The brothers exchanged glances, it was much more than they had expected. "So boys, how're you getting us out of here?"

"We need Daisy first," Luigi stated.

"Little miss princess has got her own penthouse, doesn't bunk with us cause that Ludwig freak likes her," a girl pointed out. Luigi thought about the name Ludwig, identifying it as the man who identified Daisy he was suddenly full of anger. Mario looked at Luigi, obvious his brother would not stop, picked up the goomba's weapon and prepared to dart out to save the girl. Telling the girls to stay put, Mario and Luigi made their way out into the corridors to make their way further up. Hearing a screaming, Luigi quickly identified it as Daisy and went running. As the screaming got louder, they made it to a closed door. Mario pulled out his pry boor and yanked it open. The brothers entered to see Daisy, somehow escaped, trapped in fungus, with the mycelium coiled all around her.

"Luigi help me!" she cried. "It's Ludiwg's step mother, she went berserk and tried to kill me!" The explanation was subtle enough for the brothers.

"Wait, Mario!" Luigi got his brother to holster the weapon. "What if the king is this fungus? Like Toad and I think the steward said it was? What if we can get this... thing to help us?"

"Are you crazy?" Mario asked.

"Just let me try," Luigi calmed his brother, took out a pocket knife and cut the tip of his index finger and let his blood bleed onto the fungus. It coiled and loosened it's grip. "I hear fungus can communicate through -."

"I saw that episode of Hannibal," Mario stopped him. Gently picking up some of the coils, Luigi miraculously began to get it to loosen it's grip on Daisy. Mario was staggered but Luigi was not surprised. Stepping into the parting tangled mass, he picked Daisy up as if she were a newborn child and carried her out of there, as the mushrooms began to coil once more. A convert, Mario addressed the mushrooms. "I don't who you are... but thanks."

Setting Daisy down, she hugged Luigi full of love. "Look... Daisy... we found the other girls, lets get out of here."

"No!" Daisy cried. "The King Koopa, the Bowser, he's got my crystal. You have to stop him! No, WE have to stop him! He wants to merge Dinohattan to overwrite Manhattan, millions of lives will be lost. It's how I got here, just that tech on a more grand scale!"

"In that case I suppose we have to stop him," suggested Mario.

"Yeah no shit!" Luigi agreed.


	18. Chapter 18

Mario opened the door to exit the chamber and quickly shut it, finding it to be teeming with armed goombas. He looked around, contemplating what to do, they were trapped! Almost as if it had sensed the danger, the fungus began to press against a piece of the wall and pieces of plaster fell. The mycelium coiled and writhed, straining, it managed to push a section of the wall down. Relieved, the trio scrambled through. Mario hesitated and looked back at the mushrooms and nodded before departing. Making it to another fork in the road, the brothers looked at each other. "Left. I guess," Mario suggested.

"No. Right," Luigi argued against it.

"Why?"

"I got a gut feeling."

"You had a gut feeling about the Canucks over Boston," Mario pointed out.

"Mario - trust me!" Luigi remarked. About to overrule Luigi, Mario quickly realized that his brother was only asserting himself because Daisy as present. Backing down, they went right. Luigi enjoyed the moment, took Daisy's arm and steered her right. A barred gate went up from the floor down to the ceiling, blocking Luigi and Daisy from Mario. "Mario get out of here!" Luigi screamed, noting the goombas arriving behind his brother. Behind Luigi and Daisy, Morton Koopa Jr. and the goombas arrived to flank the two. Seeing this, Mario ran the other way to try and find a way to intercept them. The goombas dragged them in front of Morton.

"Don't hurt him," pleaded Daisy.

"Oh?" Morton asked, grabbing Luigi's neck.

"If you do, I'll tell Ludwig," Daisy threatened. Obviously Morton was not oblivious to the feelings his elder brother catered for Daisy, with that he let Luigi go, who started gasping for breath. The fear of the eldest was evident. Morton thought about it for a second.

"I doubt Ludwig would want the competition," he smiled and pulled out a magnum and placed it on Luigi's temple. Daisy flung herself at him, her fingers clawing into his eyes. Luigi was helpless to do anything, held back in a vice grip by two goombas. Morton grabbed Daisy's hair and pulled her backwards. Gasping for pain, out of the corner of her eye she noticed Yoshi coming towards her, weapons trained on him. A goomba seemed to grow a conscience and stepped forth to protect the creature. "How dare you?" asked Morton and in an act of sheer aggression and awesome power, grabbed the goomba and threw it out the window. It's body disappeared into the dark void of the night. Daisy screamed, horrified at the acts of the Koopalings.

* * *

Returning to the girl's dormitory, Mario was met by a barrage of questions. He brushed them all aside and explained, "They got Luigi and Daisy. I gotta find them."

"Too late...," Pauline pointed to a black television screen blocking the way of the window. On it a face appeared, it seemed humanoid but occasionally flashed reptilian, dinosauric. "That's him... Bowser." The pictures quickly turned into a black and white broadcasting of the man himself.

"I know why you've come, plumber," the main said, his voice terrifyingly prominent through the static. "With the crystal I see every sin that blackens your soul. Eddie Scapelli. Donkey Kong. The drinking the gambling and of course the disappearance of your sister and father... and now, to repay a debt to Scapelli you have wandered into my world to take my birthright. But not all debts can be repaid, Mario.

"You don't know me, pal!" Mario shouted at the screen in such anger and aggression that those behind him were terrified.

"Ruling is my business, Mr. Segale, as blood is yours," Bowser retorted. "Do you know why these men - the Koopa Troopa - will die for me? Because I am their future and glory and hence they are content. What brought you to Dinohattan, Mario? Ruin a couple pipes and wipe away the debt? This will end in blood, Mr. Segale. Then again, it always does with you, doesn't it?" Pauline knew Mario's most intimate secrets but not even she could comprehend how the King Koopa found all of this out, how he could reach into the legacy of the Segales and Donkey Kong. It terrified her and at that moment she did not even want to see Mario's face, but knew it was full of shame and anger.

The screen turned back into the rotating picture of Koopa's normal form and his dinosaur form. The television retracted into the sky and the window was there, and in Mario's clear view was the roar of a helicopter. It's front doors were open and there, standing in pride and regal clothing was none other than the King Koopa himself: Bowser. It was their first face to face moment and iconic as it were. Mario looked around, one of the women had started praying with a candle in her hands next to the alter that was set up in the room. Other women were watching intently, but Pauline was watching in fear. With a mic in hand, Bowser looked at Mario and stated, "With time, even Rool forgives everything... but I'm just a near omniscient king, so I don't have to. Amen." For a second, he fingered the crystal in his neck, but never broke eye contact witht he plumber. With that the helicopter veered away, leaving Mario seething in anger.

"Amen," said the woman who was praying and all turned to face her. She dropped the candle on the floor and in a splitsecond, Mario saw her tongue flick pointed and realized that King Koopa had planted a mole. The entire room quickly began to go aflame.

"We gotta get outta here!" Pauline cried. "What happened to her?"

Recovering from the shock, but not the fumes, Mario led the women out of the room. "Okay, the power's shot, we'd better take the stairs."

"The building is crawling with those slug heads - what happened to her - and frost is everywhere!" cried Pauline, again. Frost triggering his memory, Mario realized that they could get through the ventilation pipes. Finding one, a few seconds later, with a swishing, Mario and the girls corkscrewed through the system on a mattress. Whizzing around a hairpin bend, they began to approach some icicles formed by the frost, Mario pushed Pauline's hair down and the other girls followed suit. Avoiding the deadly points of the stalactites by centimeters. On a straight run, they made it through a black hole and to the final stretch, making it to the top of the mesh grid and to relative safety in the city. Nonetheless, they did not know where they were, surrounded by flashing lights and noises. Mario identified them as being in the hub of the city, with their fall cushioned by it's wire grid and them having missed a blank spot in the meshing. Recovering his weapon and gathering his bearings, another television screen opened up in front of them, showing only Koopa's reptilian face.

Making his way to a rooftop, Mario scanned the streets, looking for Toad. "Whadda you looking for Mario?" Pauline asked.

"A friend of mine," Mario answered. As if on cue, a garbage truck came to a halt and Mario realized Toad was inside of it. Getting down from the rooftop, Toad was silent as the girls entered the spacious backseat.

"I take it - not too well," Toad reasoned.

"Koopa's near all powerful with that crystal," Mario explained. "He saw everything I'd done. I mean everything."


	19. Chapter 19

Slamming the dump truck into gear, Toad began to drive back towards the tower. Suddenly, images from Manhattan absurdly began to superimpose themselves over the scene. Mario blinked in astonishment as he saw yellow taxicabs suddenly on Dinohattan and then disappear. "What the hell?" Toad whispered. Then again, a pretzel stand in the middle of the road, a bag lady pushing an overloaded shopping cart and then neon signs from Broadway. Then they all disappeared. Then in front of the dump truck, a New York cop showed up, snarling. Everyone was thinking they were hallucinating, well, everyone except Mario.

"What was that?" Pauline asked.

"It's started!" Mario remarked. "Toad, do you know this place by the metro that leads to an underground tunnel full of gigantic pipes?"

"Yeah I think I know the place," Dane answered.

"We've got to get there, it's the only place this could be happening from!" Mario responded. Slamming it into gear, they moved on, and for a split second, hit straight into a Broadway Theater. Back to Dinohattan, then to forty-second street, Mario looked out and saw the hustle and bustle of pimps and their girls. Due to the strangeness of the dimensionality, the truck parked outside the subway station faster than it should have. Everyone piled out and began to follow Mario on to the steps, then New Yorkers began to materialize. A transit cop, brothers with boom boxes, more pimps and hoes all popped up on the station and then vanished. With a shudder and a kaleidoscope effect, it all began to change but stop. Reaching through the maintenance door that he and Luigi used to enter the strange world, momentarily, they were free of the craziness.

Then, outside. It began to happen on a much larger degree, as if somebody with DNA encoded to the crystal was manipulating it. Kids with airstompers popped up in Harlem, grabbing a basketball in mid air. Dinohattan cops popped up in a Manhattan precinct. It was all going crazy. They did not know that through it all, Bowser's wife, Lena, was running for him. She had witnessed this power and she knew their child would grasp it... but not all survive. Roy tried to grab his stepmother as she entered the room and much to the shock of everyone, she merged with something and was no more. Mario heard the screams of terror and tried to make his way there... but only found the custodian, who cried out in terror. "Where is Bowser?" Mario asked in a roar, the custodian pointed down the stairs. Everyone followed the plumber.

Mario, Toad and Pauline chose to enter the chamber, with the other girls opting to stay behind. "Stand back, I'm ending this," Mario told Pauline. There he entered to find the same room that he and Luigi had first arrived in. On one side were all seven Koopalings, on the other were goombas and Spike. In the middle on the floor in chains was Luigi. By the wall that Mario and Luigi arrived from, Koopa was standing with Daisy facing him.

"Mario, no!" Daisy cried. "This is between me and him." The second sentence was naught but a whisper.

"You are walking into a trap!" Luigi cried.

"I need to do this!" Daisy was adamant, as if watching the skewering of Lena had done something to change her mind. "Tell me," she turned to Bowser. "What am I?"

"The Princess of the Koopahari," Bowser answered. "Look at you, you're a mess." He grabbed her hand.

"Hey!" Luigi cried. "Let go of her!"

"Daisy," Bowser said calmly. "Everything I've done I've done to keep our people safe. You and I come from tyrannosaurus rexes, some out there come from hadrosaurs and others from triceratops but in the end we are all dinosauric. I've done to keep us safe."

"Safe from what?" Daisy asked.

"Your father," Bowser revealed. "Here is the similar instance of humanity's Gaddafi, good leader starts to turn bad and is overthrown just when he starts to get better. This new leader cannot use the circumstances to become a better leader and is overthrown himself. I will not be Gaddafi, overthrown because I failed to finish the mission. 'The return of the king will sit down the throne and return the glory of the old world'. I cannot let the world rest on prophecy." This was the first time they were all face to face. All of the variables were here. Daisy was finally face to face with her captor. Mario with his brother... and all of them with destiny. "Kamek revealed to me something else: 'Beware Bowser. Beware the plumber, Mario Segale, for he shall be a wall between her and destiny.' Heh."

"Why?" Daisy asked, still looking at King Koopa. The malevolent leader himself had turned his attention to Mario, however, not looking at Daisy, at Luigi, his children or cousin or anybody but the plumber.

"Mario I'm a fool," Koopa admitted. "I've sent mighty armies to stop you! I've rained fire on you from above! I did all of that to keep you from her when all I needed to do was tell her the truth." He pointed to a large scar behind Daisy's ear, one that ran down to her shoulder. None of them had ever seen it before, she kept it hidden behind her neck. "My son Ludwig doesn't want it to come to anything but... ask him child, Daisy, ask the plumber. Ask the plumber what happened to your neck! Ask Mario!" He grabbed Daisy's hand, suddenly enraging Mario, who sheathed his weapon at that moment.

"Let go of me!" Daisy struggled to keep out of the man's grip. Mario began to inch forward, undeterred and refusing to look at the enemies around him.

"Ask him!" Koopa shouted again and Mario began to walk forward. "Ask the plumber!" As he finished that sentence Mario grabbed Koopa by the shoulder and turned him around, putting two hands to the king's neck much to the shock of everyone... but no one dared speak, scared to interrupt the almost ceremonious moment.

"She's your world's responsibility and you abandoned her, you son of a bitch!" Mario cried. "And you abandoned her! Was it worth it?" Mario smashed Koopa's head on the rock behind them. "Was it worth it?" He smashed it again. "Tell me!" Again. "Did you get what you wanted?" Again. "Huh?" Again. "Tell me!" Again. "TELL ME!"

Mario pulled Koopa forward, to let the man talk. "It... is... finished," Koopa commented and in a fit of rage Mario shoved his head into the rock.

Miraculously, just as the plumber had expected, it would sent the dinosaur's head forth into the flooded tunnel of water in their realm. "Nothing is finished!" Mario declared. "You lock her up when you bring her here!" Koopa started struggling, trying to pull out, but the minute was short and Mario's adrenaline high.

"MARIO!" Daisy screamed.

"You slice her neck!" Mario yelled.

"MARIO!" Daisy screamed again.

"And you put it on me?" Mario questioningly yelled.

"MARIO STOP IT!" Daisy cried in vain. Mario did not stop, not then, for about five more seconds he went until Koopa stopped struggling. With that, King Koopa's head slumped out and his body fell to the cold hard rock lifeless as the Mario turned to see Daisy backed away with her hand to her mouth. The Koopalings were horrified, but scared at the same time. Spike held the goombas back because he too, was scared of what was to come. Luig was down on the floor, crying at seeing what kind of a monster his brother was.

"You killed him," Daisy whispered with her hands to her mouth, looking at Bowser's body. Then she stared Mario in the eye. "What did he mean? Huh? You tell me what he meant about my neck?"

"I don't know," answered Mario. "I... I've never seen that before in my life. I don't know." Pauline wanted to go forward to Mario, but she stopped at Luigi and with a hairpin lock undid his bonds and pulled him back. She was the only person who had seen Mario like this before, she did not want to see him like this again. Mario staggered forth a bit, his head swirled as a spell came over him. He dropped to his knees. "What...? Daisy I swear to you I have no idea what he was talking about."

"You do," Daisy claimed. "You just won't remember."

"No, I don't!" Mario claimed, looking her straight in the eyes. "I can prove it. Let's destroy this siphon between worlds, let's fix Dinohattan. The answer is with the king, your father, you just have to fix him."

"Destroy the siphon?" questioned Daisy. "How am I going to fix my father?"

"I don't know, but I'll think of something," Mario promised. He finally turned to see the entrance, Luigi, Toad and Pauline. The Koopalings and the goombas allowed them to pass, as if giving them a rite of passage.


	20. Chapter 20

Just as they were about to leave, Daisy ran back and snatched the crystal from Koopa's neck. However, at that instant the whole room began to vibrate and cracks started to appear from the floor. An anguished cry came from the dead man on the ground and Mario turned around to face him. Bowser stood up, but he began to look different. His limbs began to bulge and his hair flared red, turning a dark scarlet colour. The robes he was wearing expanded and out of his bask ivory spikes erupted. He grew in stature and in a hideous transformation his skin turned yellow and scaly as horns came above his eyes and a tail from his back. His fingernails pointed and he stood massive, the pinnacle of evolution: a dinosaur in body, but still fully conscious in mind. His venomous hate filled eyes fixed upon Mario and out of his tunic he pulled out a silver barreled weapon. Holding Daisy's hand, Mario snapped the cord off of the crystal but otherwise left it in her hands.

"Hey lizard-breath," Mario shouted at Koopa. Prepping his flame thrower he fired it at the dinosaur as the others ran back, following Toad. Much to Mario's shock, Koopa was all right. The lizard gave what appeared to be a disgusting smile and breathed fire right back. It did not reach Mario, but the point was clear. Only one of them was going to survive this. Holding out his closed hand, Mario dangled the cord. "Looking for this?" he teased and Mario ran up the walkway, hoping that in his new form Bowser could not follow him. Looking back once he made it to the top, however, Bowser was smashing his way through the walkway.

Mario ran through, avoiding his brother and everything else, running to keep the attention off of them. Whatever King Koopa had become, it was dangerous. Making his way up to the walkway he looked where he had exited from and sure enough, Bowser burst through in fury and quickly spotted Mario on one end of the walkway. Clutching his toolbelt, Mario began to pray. The people were panicking, frightened at the prospect of what exactly was going on. Bowser simply pushed innocents out of the way and stomped his foot on the ground, stopped by the giant hole below the subways. In one swift motion, the dinosaur jumped up to the walkway, and as if it was a cowboy movie at high noon, on one side was Mario and on the other side King Koopa. "Give me that rock," Bowser growled. His voice was much more guttural now, strange and honestly, quite alien. "I am your genetic destiny, Mario." Mario was scared, but he had every right to be brave as well. Holding the cord over the railing, threatening to drop it into the void, Mario taunted his arch enemy. He took a look at the door to the gateway, the Koopalings and goombas were coming out now.

Koopa was fuming and began to walk towards Mario, brandishing that weapon. He turned to the crowd assembled below the walkway and shot it at a random man, who within seconds became a goomba. "Let's see what you become," Koopa growled. He continued to walk forward and Mario pulled the Bob-Omb out of pocket and held it for the crowd and Bowser to see.

"STOP!" roared Bowser. "Put that down!" Among the crowd, everybody was whispering 'Bob-Omb'. It was a weapon of great caliber and even in his advanced state, Koopa feared it. Mario refused to listen and kneeling down, he winded it up and set it loose, thinking about what Toad told him about the Bob-Omb always reaching it's mark. With sheer trust and belief, Mario let it walk on the walkway. "Big mistake," Bowser taunted and smashed his foot on the walkway and caused a hole in the grating. Then, as it neared King Koopa it fell through to the streets below. Mario took another quick look at the door to the gateway, Luigi, Toad and Daisy were returning there to lead the other girls through. Daisy must have somehow learned to master the crystal to deny the girls a watery death. As Koopa was inches away from Mario, the world began to vibrate again. "It's happening, isn't it?" Bowser contemplated. "She's emptying that flooded tunnel and getting the girls through? You don't have the crystal at all do you? Our species is so alike that even parallels are the same in times of treachery!"

As Mario and Bowser faced off, the Bob-Omb waded through the streets below. A driver spotted it walking for a way up the walkway and stopped before he could hit it. He knew from school textbooks of it's legendary power. Suddenly Mario and Bowser began to fade out of existence. Then they materialized in Broadway, in the middle, with them both looking around as the people looked at them. Perhaps they were some new entertainment theater promoters? "Let's see what I turn you into, plumber," Bowser remarked and fired his devo gun. Mario ducked and a cop behind him was hit. Mario turned around to see what happened. The poor man's forehead began to bulge out and he was covered with far more hair and was regressed on all fours, a true homo habilis. Koopa laughed greatly. "But you'll be different," Koopa claimed, aiming at Mario. The plumber was angry again, but against Koopa in this form, what could he do? Then as he fired, they both disappeared with the shot hitting the cop again, regressing him further into primordial ooze. The two enemies warped right back to the middle of Koopa Square.

They were further apart this time, though. Mario at one end of the square and Koopa at the other. There was surprisingly no traffic, all the cars were parked far away. Koopa wondered why, Mario looked to his enemy's feet and below the tail stood the Bob-Omb. In a thunderous explosion, Koopa was lightly catapulted into the air and fell mercilessly into the giant crater in the ground. His devo gun lay by Mario's feet, escaping the carnage. Mario walked over to the fallen king, defeated by luck of the draw as the Bob-Omb had made it's mark. Koopa's crater was full of blood and horns, the leader was still conscious. His green eyes staring at Mario with hate. The dinosaur struggled to get up, but began the effort anyways. Mario turned around to see Luigi and Daisy behind him, backing him up as he faced off against the dinosaur. In one swift motion, Mario fired the beam at Koopa who roared in defiance, refusing to be taken out. Suddenly, Koopa began to grow larger, his robes ripped off and his horns and spikes retracted. His hair was gone and his colour darkened. Several feet tall, Koopa grew into a true Tyrannosaurus Rex and gave one final magnificent roar before collapsing dead on the ground. Mario's head began to swirl and he fell to the ground unconscious.

* * *

In the moments after the Battle of Dinohattan the Koopalings had fled the city with the egg of their unborn eighth brother. Bounties for their heads were placed by the police as with the fall of the tyranny of Koopa, they were now fugitives. Mario and Luigi had not gone back to Brooklyn yet. The younger brother cared for Daisy, the great love of his life. Mario, on the other hand, contemplated Koopa's words and remembered what had happened in his past. His father. His sister. The scar on Daisy's neck. It all made sense now... but how close he and Bowser truly were, that did not. In the days that followed, the fungus, which had sensed the death of Bowser began to recede. Waterways began to sprout back to life and quickly form the moat around the city and the waterways into the Koopahari Desert once again began to form. Pipes began to clear out and the city was brought from the brink of death to life. Once more, the brothers were happy they had saved millions but Mario could not shake the feeling that both of Koopa's deaths had caused his head to swirl.

About a week had passed and Toad had found a chest full of gold coins, he delivered it to the brothers. With time, Toad managed to free his uncle from prison. The old steward Toadsworth was savvy with technology and easily managed to figure out just how Koopa managed to reverse engineer King Murphy into a fungus. Transforming him back, the king was brought back, in a coma that would eventually wear off, but he was back. The money on the other hand was more than enough to clear Mario's debts. With everything said and done, Luigi found Daisy overlooking the city with an umbrella in one hand. "Daisy, let's go home," Luigi requested of her.

"I... I can't...," she answered, with the shock of that reality hitting her just as hard as it had hit Luigi.

"What do you mean?" Luigi asked. "You know how much we feel about each other."

"Look, kid," Mario interjected. "What she's trying to say is she cares about you just as you do her... but this is her home now. She's got to stay here with her father and people." It was enough understanding for the both of them. She gripped the crystal, having earned enough control over to it to send Mario and Luigi back to their apartment right when the kiss finished.

"Well Mario, what do we do now?" Luigi asked him as they looked across Brooklyn.

"Let's take a break."

**End of Act One.**


	21. Chapter 21

**Three Years Later - Dinohattan  
**

The teacups on the table swelled in the rain. The sheet on the stands by the piano began to dampen, it's ink rolling all around. With a bouquet of white orchids, Daisy sat out in the rain. To the sound of thunder, men rowed into the rivers. It had only been three years since everything. The Koopahari Desert was still present, but the rivers flowing in and out of it had allowed Dinohattan to recover, ever so slightly. Nonetheless, it was still the cesspool of corruption it once was. The rivers did lead to an ocean, though. An ocean none but Toadsworth and her father knew existed: there was more to the world as the old man always claimed. The Koopahari Flag blew off in the distance as the rain poured down, the marines came in and the door burst open. Luigi was in manacles, escorted by strange soldiers.

"Luigi!" she exclaimed and dropped the bouquet, running towards him. "How are you here? What's happening?"

"I don't know," he answered. "You look beautiful." The marines crossed their long axes to bar King Murphy from entering. From the other side of the room, a giant imposing man, at least seven foot two entered. Over his head was a purple crown. He was wearing a black business suit with an x over the lapel and slightly violet hued trousers. Daisy looked at his hands, purple gloves.

"President Murphy," the figure addressed her father. "It has been too long."

"Actually it's king now," answered the king. "You have no reason or authority to drag this man from his dimension and arrest him."

"In fact I do! Mr. Zene!" he stated and one of the marines holding Luigi came to him. "The warrant for the arrest of one Luigi Segale!" The king made his way forward and grabbed the paper.

"This warrant is for the arrest of my daughter!" he roared.

"Oh is it, now?" he asked. "That's annoying. My mistake. Arrest her!"

"On what charges?" asked Daisy.

The man brushed her off. "Oh, here it is! I have another for Dane T., are he present?" he asked.

"He left months ago," the king responded angrily. "Lord Crump, you better have a good reason for all this nonsense!"

"I don't believe that was the question I asked," Crump responded.

"Yo Crump, in the category of questions you ain't answered," Luigi intruded, leaving his statement open ended.

"We are under our own jurisdiction now, you will tell us what you have charged us with!" Daisy demanded.

"Own jurisdiction?" Crump laughed. "Perhaps Murphy remembers who he swore fealty to. The charge is '_conspiring to set free a man convicted of crimes against the Crown and Empire as well as the murder and exile of the specialist strike force Koopa Troopa for which the punishment is regrettably death_', understand Murphy? Perhaps now these Mario Brothers will remember a certain man from the Toed Sthuul Kingdom named Toadsworth?"

"The steward!" Luigi exclaimed.

"Steward Toadsworth," sighed Daisy.

* * *

"The Prisoner, as requested, Lord Crump," said Mr. Kero Zene and he threw Luigi in to the room with the intimidating Lord Crump. Despite his gargantuan height, Crump looked decidedly civil.

"Those chains are not necessary, Mr. Zene," Crump indicated and in a few short seconds Luigi was free of his bonds. "The X-Naut Trading Company is in need of your services. We wish for you and your brother to act as our agents in a business transaction with our mutual friend Steward Toadsworth."

Luigi looked around and out of the window. The city was still a steaming pile of crap, but it had been rained on and was at least recovering. "More acquaintance than friend I'm afraid, how do you know him?" Luigi asked.

"We've had dealings in the past," Crump answered. "And we've both left our mark on each other."

"What mark did he leave on you?" Luigi asked. He was curious, of a lot of things. Primarily how exactly he was back in Dinohattan. After everything with King Koopa, he'd figured they were done with the place.

"By your efforts," Crump started, ignoring Luigi's question. "Bowser was killed and Toadsworth set free. I would like you and your brother to go after him and recover a certain property in his possession."

"Recover?"

"A bargain," reasoned Crump. "Letters of marque. You and your brothers will receive full pardons from Sir Grodus and Toadsworth will be free, a privateer in employ of the X-Nauts. The true rulers of the Koopahari."

"Y'know, Toadsworth isn't going to take employment in the hands of anyone but the Sthuul King as being free," Luigi said.

"Freedom? Toadsworth is a dying breed, with the return of access to Dinohattan the world is shrinking," Crump said back. "The blank pages of the map are finally being filled in. Toadsworth must find his place in the new world or disappear. Not unlike you Mr. Segale, you and your love face the end of the hangman's noose."

"So you get both Toadsworth and what, exactly?"

"The question in item is considerably small, and far too valuable," Crump revealed. "It is something that Toadsworth keeps in possession at all times. I'm surprised Bowser did not use it: a compass? Bring back that compass or there is no deal. Both you and your brother will rot here in our dimension."

"How did you guys bring me here? How will I get my brother?" Luigi asked.

"The sprites Mr. Segale, the sprites," answered Crump. He placed in Luigi's hand a yellow star like figure with rounded ends and two onyx stones placed into it as if it had eyes. "Just say please and you'll be back to your world. Also, say map and it'll open up all that my men have chartered. I'm sure you'll find a stop at which Toadsworth will be at. Anyhow, I think Daisy wants a word with you in her... cell."

Running down the stairs and to the cell block, Luigi hardly noticed King Murphy behind him. "Here now, you can't be here," a guard stopped him. It was not a palace guard, it was an X-Naut.

"I think you'll find that he can," King Murphy protested.

"Mr. Murphy?"

"King Murphy, if that name still holds some weight," huffed the old king. The guard left the three to themselves.

"Crump wants Toadsworth's compass," Luigi told Daisy.

"What does he want with that?" Daisy asked.

"Does it matter?" Luigi asked. "I'm going to go get Mario, we'll find the steward, get him back here and have the charges dropped."

"No, we cannot trust a man of Sir Grodus," the king proclaimed. "We must find our own avenue to your freedom, Daisy."

"Is that a lack of faith in me? In case I remember I helped turn you back into what you are," Luigi promptly said.

"That you would risk your life to save Toadsworth does not mean that he would do the same for you," the king said.

"I have faith in you," Daisy said bluntly. "Where will you find the steward?"

"I have a hunch," Luigi answered. "Keep a weather eye on the horizon. Please." With that he disappeared and turned around to see a car hit him square at 30 km/h in front of his house in Brooklyn.


	22. Chapter 22

"Luigi what the hell?" Mario asked, getting out of his car to check if his brother was okay. It had been three years since they had been to Dinohattan, three years of Bowser's words haunting Mario. Yet he thought he was free of that, free to live his life with Pauline. He and Luigi got along much better since that entire incident, with the two becoming brothers truly and enjoying their new plumbing corporation. Mario had brought the girl back and wiped away all of the debts and then some. They got a much larger and fancy apartment in Brooklyn, but not too large. They wanted to stay humble. Putting his brother in the backseat and going back to the apartment, Mario carried him back onto the couch and waited for him to wake up.

"Woah," Luigi groaned, getting up. "That was... something."

"What?" Mario asked. "First, mind explaining to me how you popped up from thin air in front of my car?"

"A shine sprite," Luigi said quickly. "Look, we've got to go back to the Koopahari."

"Okay, no, first tell me - what the hell is a shine sprite?" Mario asked, obviously frustrated with his brother's attitude. Luigi held out the golden star like object.

"It's this," Luigi answered. "It lets us teleport in between realms as long as we're in a city where Daisy's crystal could work. I don't know what happened to her crystal, why she can't use it to get out of her prison. Mario, let's go!"

"What the hell?" Mario asked. "First tell me what happened!"

"So I was working a job for Eddie," Luigi started. "I finished and these goons, wearing strange armour came and cuffed me. In a second I was here to Dinohattan going at the speed of light. Placed in chains I was brought to some Lord Crump, he just invaded Dinohattan and wants us to go find Toadsworth. If we find him and convince him to work for some Sir Grodus, then he spares the life of Daisy, her father and Toad."

"Wait, Toadsworth, the steward?" Mario asked. "Wasn't he planning on going sailing to some Rogueport or something, y'know, when he got his resources up?"

"Yes, exactly!" Luigi shouted, happy that he had a lead. "That's where we'll head!" Mario put his hands up.

"Let me at least tell Pauline where we'll be going, maybe I can get us some pistols and ammo from Eddie," Mario told him to wait and left. Perhaps now he would finally get some answers on what Bowser's cryptic words truly meant. Heading off to Pauline, she was surprisingly okay with the circumstances. She never wanted Mario to go back to Dinohattan, but under such circumstances, she did not want Daisy dead either. She gave him permission and got two pistols and ammo from her cousin's vault for them. With all said and done, Mario returned to Luigi and was surprised how within a second, as if it was Daisy's powers again, they were on an X-Naut ship sailing on a river away from Dinohattan.

* * *

Right when they arrived, the highly trained X-Nauts turned their weapons on Mario and Luigi. "Hold up," Luigi stopped. "We're working for Lord Crump, we need you guys to take us to Rogueport!" Who appeared to be the leading commander checked a little datapad looked them up and then nodded. In a second, all of the soldiers, more like drones, began to go back to their duties, avoiding the brothers entirely. "Well, we're back," Mario noted. "At least there's water now for the city and the sky is cleared up." They had gone back so fast, Mario had agreed almost instantly. It was almost as if he was hoping for three years that they could go back so he could figure out how exactly Bowser knew about his sister and father. Luigi was all ready to go, to rescue Daisy, Mario felt that he was even more ready, but just needed rationalization. Somehow, it felt good to be back.

"Yeah I didn't get a chance to check everything out because I was in bonds last time," Luigi responded. "Daisy's dad's out of her coma. I hope she can come back now."

"Keep your mind on the job, the sooner we find Toadsworth the sooner we go back," Mario quickly said.

"Oh please!" Luigi remarked. "The only reason you agreed to come here so quickly is because you wanted to come as well!"

"Keep dreaming, I'd rather stay out of this glum place," Mario lied, convincingly as well. "The only reason I came is because I saved Daisy last time, I'm not letting her die of murder and my work go to vain."

"Whatever," said Luigi.

* * *

Arriving at Rogueport later that day, they found many patrons wearing a strange white mask and hoods. Luigi approached one of them and asked. "Have you seen an old guy, mid-fifties, named Toadsworth?"

"Toadsworth?" scoffed the shy guy. "Owes me four doubloons." Mario on the other hand went to ask some ladies, LUigi turned and saw, they were probably hookers.

"Seen a guy named Toadsworth?" Mario asked them.

"Toadsworth? Haven't seen him in a month," answered the ho. "When you see him, give him a message." She slapped Mario there, undoubtedly there was some bad blood between the two. Luigi kept laughing until Mario came and told him to shut up. They then found a shrimper out by the beach.

"Have you seen an old man by the name of Toadsworth?" Mario asked him.

"Can't say about Toadsworth," the shrimper answered. "But there's an island just south of where I trade spices with Koopa Troopa runaways. You'll find a ship there, a ship painted angel white with Sthuul red flags. Perhaps it is there you will find some clues?" The man agreed to take them with him on his shrimping boat and when the island came into sight, so did the boat, which was painted like Dane Toad's cap was. "My brother can take you." The two got into a rowboat and were sailed across, but the man refused to come all the way to shore so for a short bit they had to wade through.

Walking ashore, Luigi started calling out names: "Toadsworth! Dane!" but Mario hushed him. They walked past the ship and looked at the beach and fell as soon as two tranquilizer darts hit them right above the knees.


	23. Chapter 23

These native savages began to carry Mario and Luigi and took them up the mountain to their camp, holding their hands behind their back, there was nothing the two brothers could do. Once they made it to the very top, they presented them to their king, who turned out to be none other than Dane Toad. The savages addressed the red bandana man in a strange language and got a strange response. "Dane," Mario gruffed. "I can honestly say I am glad to see you." Dane simply looked at them and turned away, mentioning paprika to a native. "Toad! It's a... me, Mario!" Mario tried to convince his old friend, however, Dane kept on speaking in the strange language to the other savages. "Can you tell them to let me go, if you can even talk to them at all?"

"Aaah...," Toad pointed at Luigi. "Plumberly."

"Dane, all I need is your uncle's compass!" Mario explained. "We need it to save Daisy! Luigi was arrested for taking down Bowser and soon you will be too! Daisy faces hanging by a metal rope!" Toad said a whole bunch of crap and then came by Mario.

Whispering into the plumber's ear, Toad simply said: "Save me."

At that moment the savages began to carry Luigi and Mario away. "What did you tell them?" Mario asked. "Toad! No! What about Daisy!"

* * *

Her father at at that moment arranged an attempt to try and get her to escape. It had failed as Daisy expected. For some reason her crystal wasn't working and she could not teleport wherever she wanted. It was annoying, but for a split second it had managed to work. When Kero Zene intercepted the wagon that her father had stationed to go to a boat scheduled for Rogueport, Daisy had somehow been able to teleport to Lord Crump's office. As the insidious giant walked into the room, the first thing he noticed was that the letters of marque he had promised Luigi were missing. "No doubt," his deep Sean Connery like voice insisted, "that you have discovered that loyalty is no longer the currency in this realm, as your twenty years a fungus father believes."

"Then what is?" Daisy questioned.

"Sir Grodus has changed," answered Lord Crump. "For the first time in a long time, currency is the currency of the realm."

"Then I expect we can come to some understanding," Daisy prompted. "I'm here to negotiate."

"I'm listening," Lord Crump answered. She drew a pistol to the back of his head. "I'm listening quite intently."

"These letters of marque, they are signed by Sir Grodus to whom you claim my father swore fealty," Daisy made sure of.

"They are not valid until they bear my signature and seal," Crump revealed.

"Or else I would not be here," Daisy finished for him. "You sent Luigi to get Toadsworth's compass. How did you bring Luigi here?"

"Your crystal is not the only object that can transform dimensions," Crump knew. "Most powerful, perhaps. King Koopa knew this and using a shine sprite he was brought here. With several shine sprites one can negate the effects of your crystal. For a second, I decided to let you come over here. I suppose what you truly want to know is why I desire the compass? There is a chest of value in the waters beyond Rogueport. Perhaps you may wish to enhance whatever offer you might have had."

"Consider into your calculations that somewhere along the line you have robbed me of a life with Luigi," Daisy claimed. "For now, at least."

"So I did," Crump admitted. "If you want his freedom, then get the compass." With that, Daisy, tempted to shoot, simply left.

* * *

"Well I say it was saurian providence what escaped us from that Dinohattan jail!" claimed Lemmy, the elder but shorter of the two brothers traveling in their rowboats.

"And I say it was me being clever! Roy almost had us identified in Rogueport, I was good to suggest we separate from the crowd like Ludwig did!" Larry the younger but taller of the two brothers counterclaimed.

"How do you know saurian providence did not inspire you?" tested Lemmy. The two had set sail off of Rogueport after their other siblings and baby brother, Bowser Jr., had almost been identified by X-Naut police. Quickly escaping, the two brothers made their own way. With a treasure map and hearing of a crashed ship, they knew the safest independent place would be the Sthuul Kingdom. Not long after they had arrived on the shore of the island took a good look at the ship.

"It's ours for the taking!" Larry declared.

"The tide is coming in, that should help," Lemmy judged. "And also, salvaging is a kind of saving, in the manner of things for this fine ship."

"There's the truth of it!" Larry agreed.

"I suppose we better save it as soon as we can," Lemmy muttered and the two got to work on the ship.

* * *

Mario and Luigi were placed in a bone cage hanging atop a ravine. Inside their cage was Toadsworth and several others, Blue and Yellow (whose names were actually the colours of their caps, Chanterelle, Bert and Doe. "So if Dane's their chief, why are we locked up?" Mario asked Bert, the Toad he was squeezed up against.

"Aye, the savages made Dane their chief, but he only remains chief as long as he acts like one," Bert reasoned.

"So he has no choice," Mario reasoned. "He's captive as much as the rest of us."

"Worse as it turns out," Bert continued. "The savages think that Dane is a god in person form and intend to sacrifice him so that he can up and join the rest of their twisted pantheon." Luigi looked around and saw the bones and sinew holding their cages together.

"Where's the rest of the crew?" Luigi asked Chanterelle.

"This cage we're in weren't built until after we got here," she answered.

"Well then we can't just do nothing," Luigi claimed. He prompted the crew to start pushing the cage back and forth across the ravine, gradually gaining momentum, each time they got closer and closer to the walls and the mossy vines that hung around it. Eventually, they made it and everyone who could grabbed a vine. "Put your legs through!" Luigi ordered. "Start to climb! C'mon men! Hurry!" Making it up to the first bridge, Luigi spotted a savage patrolling it. Knowing they would need to make it further up, he quickly halted them and all went hush. When he went past, they continued their ascent and made it to the top. "Find a rock, cut it loose!" Luigi ordered. Mario noticed that this time around, Luigi was taking much more initiative in their quest.

"No, move it!" Toadsworth's voice hammered. "Lift it like a lady's skirt!" As they began to move, Dane suddenly, hopping on an enlarged cooking stick, came in front of them, crying for them to stop. Cutting each other loose, they all quickly ran back down to the ship, which they were surprised to find was almost all ready to go. "Excellent," Toadsworth remarked. "Our works already half done!"

"We done it for you!" Lemmy claimed. "We knew you'd be back!"

"Time to go!" Luigi yelled as all eleven of them got aboard the ship.


	24. Chapter 24

"Let's put some distance between us and this island and head out to the open sea," suggested Dane.

"Yes to the first and to the second but only so long as we keep as close to the shallows as possible," Toadsworth tippsily claimed. "Say, why did the Super Mario Bros come back?"

"That seems contradictory uncle," Dane placed his attention back on them. While he too was interested he was sure the brothers would come out with the info as soon as possible.

"I have every ounce of faith in God and Chanterelle's navigational skills!" Toadsworth claimed. Then Luigi came up behind the steward. Mario was busy associating himself within the new group of Toads and learning about the Sthuul Kingdom. It was an interesting venture and while Luigi himself would have loved to learn all about it, he was busy trying to take the initiative to find Daisy. That was the most important thing in his life at that moment. Sure, he might only get to spend a few days with her, but the fact was that he would get to spend even a minute with her if he succeeded.

"Toadsworth," he approached him.

"Ah?"

"Daisy is in danger," he revealed.

"Have you considered keeping a closer eye on her?" Toadsworth suggested. "Or locking her up somewhere?"

"Sorry I was in another dimension," Luigi apologized. "And she IS locked up, in a prison for helping us kill Bowser!"

"There comes a time when one must claim responsibility for one's mistakes," Toadsworth dryly declined to help. Luigi pulled out his gun and aimed it at the steward's head, much to the shock of the entire crew. Nonetheless, they saw the savvy look on the steward's face and just pressed on with their duties. Nobody really cared, after all, they knew Luigi would not really kill the old Toad.

"I need your compass, steward," Luigi gritted through his teeth. "I need it for her freedom."

"Dane?" Toadsworth asked, calmly pushing the gun away and walking over to his nephew.

"Yes, uncle?" responded Dane. He too was unbothered by the fact that Luigi had pulled a gun to his uncle's head. He was bothered by whatever danger Daisy could be in and the fact that his uncle had been acting so fidgety recently. It was as if the man felt as if there was a harpoon pressed against his back, prepped to launch straight through in a gory mess. Whatever danger Daisy was in, though, it had to be as bad as what was up with Bowser otherwise she would have been able to use her crystal to get out of there. He thought about it all for a second and began to look around, but only for a second, and reasoned that his best judgment would be to stick with his uncle, blood before bone.

"We need to travel upriver."

"No!" Luigi interjected. "We need to make it to Dinohattan, or at least Rogueport, as fast as this dinky ship can go!"

"Luigi I will trade you the compass if you get me this!" Toadsworth agreed, showing Luigi the picture of a key. Mario arrived then and took a good long look at the picture.

"You want me to find this?" Luigi asked.

"No, I want you to find this so that you can find the doo dad of the man to find the means to get to her!" Toadsworth explained.

"This is going to save Daisy?" Luigi assured himself.

"How much do you know about King K. Rool?" Toadsworth asked. Mario's ears perked up at the mention of the name. He was mentioned in one of those unforgettable words that Bowser uttered.

"Never heard of him," Luigi answered.

"Bowser mentioned him," Mario revealed. Recalling the exact thing, it was something about even Rool eventually being able to forgive, whatever that meant. Whoever this Rool was, he was powerful from the implication. Nonetheless, if he was like other men in this subdimension, Mario knew he could be bought. This adventure would probably not take a long time, Mario figured. After all, it seemed much less stressful than the last one they had, probably since they were in much familiar territory this time and actually knew where they were.

"Yeah it'll save her," Toadsworth made sure of it in a confident thumbs up. The steward walked away to his cabin, seemingly gleeful, but teetering mostly in the center of the ship, as if he wanted to stay away from the ocean. Luigi noted that, Mario was busy immersing himself within the Toads again. Going to Dane, Luigi prepared to ask a question.

"Why is your uncle afraid of the ocean, I mean, giant squids?" Luigi questioned.

"Better question is, how did you get back here?" laughed Toad, although he was serious.

"Okay, I'll tell you, but you've got to tell me your uncle's situation," Luigi bargained. Dane simply nodded his head in agreement. "So, somebody named Lord Crump comes to New York and drags me here to repay the fealty King Murphy owed some Sir Grodus, and given that Bowser was paying it, for three years it just went by unchecked. Crump's somehow negating Daisy's control over the crystal, but he's given me something called a Star Sprite, it'll give me some powers, not enough to free her, however. We've got to get your uncle to agree to work under the X-Nauts, do you know who they are?"

"I've heard of their nation, Nautical, but I wasn't aware Sthuul dealt with them," Dane honestly answered. "I miss Dinohattan, though, y'know. That was my home, I lived there my entire life. I don't get why people like my uncle think I would feel comfortable serving under Princess Peach Toadstool, it's just not reasonable. I liked serving under Daisy and Murphy."

"Dude, don't go off topic," Luigi remarked.

"Okay, all right," Dane returned to the subject matter at hand. "Well, if you believe such things, there is a beast that does the bidding of King K. Rool. A fearsome creature with giant spikes with suction pads that'll clean your face off and maybe even drag a ship down the depths: the Puftoss. According to survivors the smell is the worst part, imagine death and a thousand corpses. If you'll believe such things, but... after how Koopa became an actual monster, I guess it's possible."

"Your uncle thinks the key will spare him that?" Luigi asked.

"And somehow get you back Daisy," confirmed Dane. "Look, I'm only going off what I've seen from Chanterelle's maps, y'know, sites where the Puftoss has been rumoured to have been seen. Anyways, my uncle wants this question confirmed, so... he's going to go visit... her."

"Her?" Luigi asked, not knowing at all what was happening.

"Yeah, her," he confirmed, not knowing Luigi had no clue.


	25. Chapter 25

Making their way to a swamp, Mario and Luigi still had no idea what Toadsworth was up to. They speculated the fumes from his prison cell had some sort of an adverse effect on his brain. The passageway the swamp led to took them to a small hut, but that was about it. "No worries guys, Candy and I go back a long time," Toadsworth assured them. Despite this, only Toadsworth, Toad, Mario and Luigi dared enter.

"Toadsworth," she greeted. Mario took a good look at her, she was a tall Caucasian woman with blonde hair. She appeared to have a bit of importance about her.

"Candy," Toadsworth calmly said back. He strided over to her, almost knocking his head on a pair of hanging jars. She, however, spotted Mario and just as the old steward reached her, she walked over to him.

"Mario," she said calmly. "You... you have a touch of multiversal destiny about you, Mario."

"You know me?" Mario asked, fixating on her words. Perhaps she could give him some answers about what Bowser said.

"You want to know me?" she asked. Mario did not know what to make of it. She seemed about forty, his age, but he had a sneaking suspicion that she was much, much older than that. Nonetheless, Toadsworth quickly ran over between them, looking concerned. For what, exactly, Mario could not determine, but he backed away.

"There will be no knowing here!" Toadsworth declared, grabbing Candy by the arm and leading to the other side of her shack. "We've come for help and shan't be leaving without it!" He looked at Mario with concern when he turned back. "Please don't know him."

"Well all right. Come," she beckoned. Toadsworth called Mario, but Mario only and called for Luigi and Toad to stay where they were. Mario treaded over carefully, taking a look at a bunch of trinkets. One caught his eye. It was a red tie, like the one he gave Donkey Kong Jr., but there were no words on it. It was just a red tie but he swore that he recognized it. Shaking it off, he went over to the two crazies and followed them to the second story in the hut. "What do you want?" she demanded to know. "You know I want payment!" Toadsworth looked uneasily at Mario for a second there.

"I brought payment!" he said after an awkward half minute. He reached into Mario's toolbelt and pulled out an ammo magazine. "Look, interdimensional heavy metals!" Candy grabbed the cartridges and analyzed them for a second, putting a finger over the grooves in the packaging. She then looked at Toadsworth quite seriously, making Mario feel uncomfortable... but she laughed and Mario believed that the payment was considered fair. He was relieved for a second there, he was worried that she would kill the two of them. "We're looking for this and what it leads to," Toadsworth brought out the folding of the key and let Candy analyze it.

"The compass I gave you, why can't you use it?" she wanted to know.

"Maybe it does!" Toadsworth stated.

"Let's go back down," she suddenly stated. While they did, joining the others, they saw that more from the crew, Larry and Lemmy, had come in the hut and joined up in conversation. "So Toadsworth does not know what he wants or how to get it? Or you do know but are loath to claim it as your own? Your key goes to a chest and you want what's in the chest, right?"

"And what is inside?" Dane asked.

"Jewels, gold and treasure?" Lemmy suggested.

"Nothing bad I hope," Larry glumly commented.

"Do you all know of King K. Rool?" asked Candy. "A great sailor, until he ran afoul of that which vexes all men!"

"Oh my dad used to mention him!" Lemmy put out, drawing glares from the crowd. "The vex was women and the gold!"

"NO!" Larry slapped his elder brother. "That was a metaphor, it was the dichotomy of good and evil!"

"It was a woman!" Candy put out there, annoyed by the Koopalings. "He fell in love."

"I heard it was the sea he fell in love with," Dane commented.

"Same story different variables," Candy brushed him aside. "See it was a woman as changing and untamable as the sea in THIS universe. But the pain she caused him was too much and though he did not stop loving her, he could not live with a heart."

"So what did he put in the chest?" Luigi asked.

"His heart," Candy simply said. Luigi was astonished at that, how on Earth was that possible. It seemed like something out of a Gore Verbinski movie, just disgusting. Then again, maybe the science in this dimension was actually advanced and did more than cause pollution... but to live without a heart. That was just, something else entirely. Pure astonishment fell upon everyone's faces as well.

"Literally or figuratively?" Luigi asked again. He knew it was probably literally, did Bowser literally or figuratively turn into a monster. Chances were literally.

"It was not worth for him to feel the small fleeting joy of life," Candy answered. "So with a blade brought by Tatanga from the far emptiness of space, he carved out his own heart and hid it in the chest, keeping the key on him at all times."

"Did you know this?" Luigi asked Toadsworth.

"No," answered the old steward. "I did not know where the key was, but now I do. So now all we do is get the key, head off to Dinohattan and save Daisy! A much more easy and simple adventure than your last one. I'm sure your feeling it's much less stressful too. I mean, this time all you did was rescue me from a bone cage and go on a boat with me. Now we find Rool, make an exchange and leave!" Candy grabbed his hand and pulled of the glove, showing a red spot to everyone. They were shocked at the presence of it's hideousness.

"Land is where you are safe Steward Toadsworth," she told him. "So keep land on you at all times, you too Mario." She gave the plumber a jar of dirt.

"Dirt?" Mario asked.

"If you don't want it, I'll take it," she offered.

"NO!" Toadsworth almost shouted.


	26. Chapter 26

Using the compass, which Mario and Luigi learned would lead it's user to whatever they desired the most in life, the motley crew had set sail. Heading for an archipeligo in the open ocean, they were to look for King K. Rool's ship, the Flying Krock. It was said to be a very dangerous ship, armed with an infinite supply of ammunition for it's guns and a fearsome crew of creatures called Kremlings. Apparently they were much like Bowser in his final transformation, more lizard than man, turned that way by the years of servitude under King K. Rool. It was not a devo transformation, though, just something that happened by the attiutde of the ship, transforming whomever served like the inside of their hearts. Toad told the brothers of a man his uncle knew, Bullet Bill, who apparently now looked black like a bullet due to servitude under Rool. It all depended what they were inside. Most dinosaurs were prideful, and became lizardmen. What Rool was, would remain to be seen.

Coming across an archipelago, the rain was low, but rising slowly yet steadily. Waves pounded against a scuttled ship run aground against the rocks with it's men praying for help, not seeing the slowly approaching vessel. "That's the Flying Krock?" Luigi asked his companions. "It doesn't look like much."

"Neither do you," Mario pointed out. "Don't underestimate it, might end up being like Bowser. Must have run afoul of some reef? So what's the plan then?"

"I'll row over there and find the bloody key," Luigi offered, handing Mario the spyglass. Taking a sword, he also put, "I won't waste ammo. Any of these lizard crewmen I'll just cut down, aight?"

"I like it, simple and easy to remember!" Mario gave a thumbs up as his seal of approval.

"I think we should douse the lamps," Toadsworth ordered Larry as Lemmy helped Luigi into his rowboat. The younger brother sailed over towards the wreckage and in the distance, the Toads' ship began to fall black, as it's lamps were doused one by one. Lighting a lantern, he entered the scuttled ship and looked around. There were bodies everywhere, strewn across as if there were no tomorrow. Then there was one sailor, trying to pull a rope.

"Sailor?" Luigi asked him.

"Trying to hoist the jib!" the nervously said over and over again. He was frightened into a righteous shock, Luigi deemed. Then, a man fell off from the top sail and started to wiggle a little. Realizing the man to still be alive, Luigi ran over to help him. Turning the person over, Luigi dropped the corpse after seeing the face to be suctioned off, as if the Puftoss was real. "No... foul breath," the man behind him said. Luigi turned around in horror to see the real Flying Krock, rising out of the ocean and then settling next to the scuttled ship. It was a green ship with ugly flags hoisted up. It was a massive ship with metal points along it's edges, though. Jumping up to the rails, Luigi stared in astonishment at the massive ship as figures began to appear on it's sides. Sure enough, their silhouettes gave them the appearance of lizard men. They were all smaller than Bowser was, however, and appeared like normal men, just in lizard form.

Luigi took out his sword. He was thankful that using some of the money Dane gave him had taken fencing lessons. The lizard men jumped over to the scuttled ship and one of them shouted out, "Down on your marrow and pray!" Luigi jumped out from the corners and began to fight, playing the hero like he knew Daisy would want him to. These men did not deserve this fate... but these men were too much and Luigi could not evade them. Turning a head over his shoulder, one punched Luigi square in the temple, knocking him out. Mario watched in horror from his spyglass as the lizard men lined all the surviving men up on their knees one by one.

* * *

Then, out of the water rose a massive figure. At least six foot eight, still smaller than crump, but much more fiersome and strong looking. He bore black pants, a belt with a pirate skull and a giant red coat. His hat was black and his figure massive, Mario wondered how they would get out of this one. It was King K. Rool, a lizard larger than even Bowser and all the more terrifying. His face was that of a komodo dragon's but jet green, his motions were wicked and he made his way to the first sailor. Mario watched intently through the spyglass. "Do you fear death?" Rool asked. "Do you fear the dark abyss? All your deeds laid bare. All your sins punished, I can offer you an escape."

"Don't listen to him!" a sailor shouted. Rool made his way to that sailor.

"Do you fear death?" Rool asked again.

"I'll take my chances," the sailor said in defiance. Rool made a motion with his hand and a lizardman, with bullet black skin, slit the sailor's throat and threw him into the ocean.

"You cruel blackguard!" another sailor shouted.

In sudden anger, Rool shouted out, "Life is cruel, why should the afterlife be any different? Join my crew and postpone the judgment, one hundred years before the mast! Will you serve?" Just like that, he regained his composure.

"I will," the first sailor asked agreed. Rool walked down the line and analyzed the remaining sailors, then he spotted Luigi.

"You are neither dead nor dying," he determined. "What are you doing here?"

"Steward Toadsworth sent me to settle his debt," Luigi said between bursts, unwilling to speak to such a creature. Rool seemed surprised at first, then embarrassed and then angry. Mario watched the captain's motions through the spyglass, through it, a distant Rool spoke some more to Luigi and glanced over his shoulder and it was as if he looked straight through the spyglass and into Mario's eye. Frightened, Mario took the spyglass away from his eye and found the massive lizard in front of him, teleported if one would.

"You have a debt to pay, Mario," Rool determined. "As for you, Toadsworth. Twenty five years you have been Steward of the Sthuul Kingdom..."

"Actually only two years," Toadsworth interjected. "I was imprisoned for most of it in Dinohattan."

"Then you were a poor steward but a steward nonetheless," determined Rool. "Tell me how you kept introducing yourself as the steward?"

"You have my payment!" Toadsworth shouted out to the anger of Mario. "One soul over mine."

"His soul is not equal yours!" Rool roared. "But perhaps we can work out a deal," the king then calmly suggested. "This Mario now has King Koopa's debt. I offer you both three days to garner me one hundred souls to serve as Kremlings as a part of my crew and I'll release you both from your debts." Mario noted Rool to have a very Scottish like accent, with him clicking his tongue after the ends of some words. It was strange, but perhaps he was only thinking of that to distance himself on the worries of what might happen to Luigi.

"Hey, hey!" Mario intruded. "Give me back my brother!"

"I'll tell you what, false Bowser," Rool addressed Mario. "I get to keep the boy, as a good faith payment. That leaves you with ninety nine souls to go Mario and if you don't deliver you and King Koopa truly become one and the same! I wonder, though, Mario, can you live with this, condemn innocent souls to save yourself from becoming the demonic monster you saw Koopa become?"

"Give me my brother," Mario adamantly stated. "His soul is worth more than a thousand and you're not getting it, it belongs to someone else." The mention of love was unmoving to Rool, he refused to even blink.

"I keep the boy, ninety-nine souls minimum," Rool simply said.

"Then let's seal it," Mario accepted the challenge. He and Rool shook hands, there was nothing the plumber would not do to save his brother. Luigi and Daisy were the two most important things in his life.

"Just like Bowser before ye," Rool laughed, disappearing right after. Toadsworth looked at his hand, the red spot was gone. Mario looked at his, there it was.

"My debt is on you now?" Toadsworth asked and then laughed in merriment, much to Mario's annoyance. Angry, Mario went to him and turned him around.

"If Dane wasn't your nephew, I would have done much worse," said Mario and knocked out the Steward.


	27. Chapter 27

"I suppose we are fortunate he didn't specify the condition the souls needed to be dealt in."

* * *

Arriving at Rogueport, the crew, dubbed the Starshroom Enterprise by Mario, began recruiting to increase their ranks. Mario determined if they wanted to somehow best King K. Rool, he knew that they needed to at least have a crew that rivaled in size. He was not prepared to sacrifice an entire city to save himself, but Luigi, that was a different story. He was willing to damn himself to save his brother. Of course some like Pauline and Eddie would object, but there was nothing more important to Mario than the safety of his brother. He had to ensure that in any way possible. "What makes you think you're worthy to crew aboard the Starshroom Enterprise?" Dane asked a very old man.

"Well, y'see, I figure I might still go and see the world while I'm young!" he declared.

"You'll do, next!" asked Dane.

"My wife ran off with my brother and I don't care what happens!" said the next man, very drunk.

"Yep!" Dane signed him up. "NEXT!" Then up walked a Shy Guy, a blue Shy Guy. "What's your story?" The Shy Guy almost immediately pointed to Mario.

"My story," his muffled voice spoke like it was through a telephone. "Is exactly the same story as his story. Just one chapter behind: I get chased out of my home and pursued for three years." Mario suddenly had a clue who the Shy Guy was and stopped fidgeting with Toadsworth's compass. "The pursuit cost me my honour, my home and my life."

"Ludwig von Koopa?" Dane asked, curious.

"Not anymore," the Shy Guy responded. "The Koopa Troopa doesn't listen to me anymore. Aren't you listening? I almost had Daisy, she would've been mine!" Mario began to try and sneak away. "I would have if my father hadn't been killed!" Dane was quiet at that moment and fell back when the Shy Guy flipped the table. "So am I worthy to serve under the Super Mario? So do I make your crew or not? Are you going somewhere nice?" Mario began to continue to sneak and felt a pistol to his skull. "Or should I kill you now before you get there?"

"You're hired?" Mario asked.

"Sorry, old habits," the Shy Guy took off his mask to reveal the face of Ludwig von Koopa. He threw the mask on the ground and the other Shy Guys in the room, red and blue, began attacking the Starshroom Enterprise crew. Mario and Dane quickly sneaked out of the bar and watched as Ludwig tried to fight everyone off, only to get smashed in the head by a bottle. Unknown to them all, Lord Crump's right hand men Kero Zene and Kudgel were watching their progress. Mario and Dane looked at the sight one more time and burst out laughing.

Hurrying along the docks, their crew began to load the cargo. A red Shy Girl approached Mario, helping Ludwig walk with an arm. "Come to join my crew?" Mario asked her, almost failing at trying not to laugh at the Koopaling, whose brothers inside the ship watched the sight nervously.

"I'm here to find the man I love," her disguised voice preventing Mario from recognizing her.

"I'm deeply flattered, but no," Mario stopped her and began to turn around. "Dump him anywhere."

"I mean your brother, Mario," the Shy Girl said and took of her mask. Mario peered at her, it was none other than Daisy! "I know you and Luigi set out to find Toadsworth, where are they?"

"Look, I shouldn't have to tell you this," Mario began. "But because of that stupid steward Toadsworth my brother got crushed into King K. Rool's crew."

"King K. Rool?" she asked.

"Oh please," Ludwig fell on the ground. "The kruel demon kaptain of the Flying Krock!"

"You look awful, what are you doing here?" Mario asked him.

"You hired me, I can't help it if your standards are lax," Ludwig protested.

"Mario!" shouted Daisy. "All I want is to find Luigi!"

"Look, there's only one way to save Luigi! There's a chest...," Mario uneasily said.

"Oh dear," Ludwig interjected. His brothers then came up from behind him.

"It contains the steal beating heart of Rool!" they explained.

"Look, my mind is not clear, so I can't use it," Mario handed Daisy Toadsworth's compass. "It points to the thing you want the most in the world. If you want to save Luigi, we need Rool's chest, so by proxy, is that not what you want most in the world?" Daisy opened the compass and it pointed to the direction of the chest.

"Finally!" Toad shouted.

"Welcome to the crew, brother!" Lemmy greeted Ludwig.

"Weigh off that anchor and let's go!" Toad ordered.

* * *

G


	28. Chapter 28

The Flying Krock, at full sail, cut through the water. Luigi swore he could hear, no matter how faint, as if from a church's pipe organ, a haunting and mournful tune. Rool had put Luigi to work right away, with the rest of the crew treating him as a sailor. It actually was not bad work, a bit hard, but not really much different from plumbing. Luigi knew that given enough time, he could get used to being a pirate. He just didn't want to end up green, octopusy or lizardish like the others. It was also the least sexist job, as Luigi noted, he had seen several female sailors around as well. The biggest difference in them was that they seemed to look green, but otherwise retain a normal composure. Working the deck alongside the phantasmagoric crew, they were trying to move a cannon and hoist it towards the bow. The bosun was supervising them and by the mean mug on his face, Luigi really did not feel like stirring up trouble. Carrying a nine tailed whip, he used it liberally: "Secure the tail of the mainsail tackle! Segale!" Seeing that as his cue, Luigi moved towards the line and reached for it.

"Step aside," he told a female sailor in his way.

"Mind yourself!" she barked and pushed him aside. Luigi stared angrily at the back of her head. This green woman was asking for it. Grabbing her shoulder, he turned her around to face him. "Hey now!" she cried out in frustration, pushing him back. Some of the crew was paying attention, especially the bullet skinned one. She was ready for a fight, she raised a fist slightly but then got a good look at Luigi. "No," she whispered silently. "Not you." Any crewmen watching stopped and began to move the hanging cannon, the line, however, had not been fastened. It moved fast, very fast and by the time Luigi caught it he was swung over hard into the gunwail as the cannon fell.

"Haul that weevil to his feet!" the bosun, whom Luigi acknowledged as Spiny because of his red face and the spines growing out the back of his head. The crewmen yanked Luigi up from his feet and shoved him against a pole, his back exposed. "Five lashes'll remind ye to stay on them!" Spiny raised his hand, but it was caught by the woman, who Luigi looked at curiously, it was almost as if he knew her, her and the Bullet Bill figure. "Impeding me in my duties?" questioned Spiny. "You'll share the punishment!"

"I'll take it all," added a third figure who came to the scene. It was Bullet Bill in all his, well, it wasn't glory whatever it was. At some point during the ruckus, the organ music had ceased. Nobody on the crew, who had either taken the side of Bill or Spiny, realized this. Unbenownst to them, King K. Rool stood on the deck, apprising the situation. He made his way forward, not thundering, but silently.

"Will you now?" he asked, making his way forward. "And what would prompt such act of charity?" He looked at Bill with such malevolence that even though the man did not want to answer, he knew he had no choice.

"He's my nephew, my brother's youngest son," Bill bluntly answered. Luigi turned around and looked at the man, no, that could not be his uncle Bill. There was no way, it did not make sense! Luigi's glare at the man was vile.

"What fortuitous circumstance be this!" Rool roared in laughter. "You spare your niece punishment for so long and now ano'er of your brood has entered my ship! You wish to spare your nephew the bosun's discipline?"

"Aye," Bill confirmed.

Rool took the whip from Spiny and analyzed it. "Five lashes be owed, I think it fair," he surmised and handed Bill the whip.

"No, I won't -," Bill started but a look at Rool's face crushed all defiance.

"Bosun, to the bone," Rool clearly stated, looking hard at Bill. The bosun raised his arm, but was again stopped by the woman, who handed the whip to Bill. Bullet pushed Spiny to the ground and nodded to the crewmen holding Luigi, they turned him around and bared his back. Bullet raised the lash, some defiance grew in him but he looked at the fearsome draconic-like Rool and five times the whip cracked. Five times Luigi screamed himself sore. Five times Bill pained himself inside. With each crack of the whip, Bill waited until Luigi was silent to start the next one. At each silence, Rool let out a single: "ha".

* * *

For a few moments Luigi lay sprawled, gasping for air on the deck as the crew got back to work around him. Slowly getting up, he staggered into the hold. The girl followed him and tried to help him onto a bench. "I don't need your help."

"The bosun prides himself on being able to cleave flesh from bone," the woman bluntly claimed.

"So ya want me ta believe that handing my 'uncle' Bill the whip was an act of compassion?" Luigi asked the green woman.

"From a sister to a brother," her words were blunt, but they pierced Luigi's soul. "Yes, it was." Luigi looked long and hard at her and he knew it, she was his younger sister Rosalina. Hardened and mutated by the waters of King K. Rool, the kruel kaptain had transformed her into something he had never thought she could be. On her bandana, and Luigi was shocked that he didn't see it before, was the faded star known as Luma. Luigi refused to cry.

"Then I guess I really am Mario's brother," Luigi whispered. "For years I've been telling myself that you're dead. You and dad, Mario hit with a slab of diamond ore and left for dead, but you and dad - missing."

"What?" Rosalina asked.

"The debt!" Luigi exclaimed, horrified that Mario actually was not lying. "The debt that pop had to repay! You, he and Uncle Bill you all just up and vanished one day! Mario kept looking for you but we could never find you and then we found that Luma cap in your room one day, based off of some Japanese anime character - I think. We'd stopped searching after someone hit Mario with a slab of diamond ore, we took it as a meaning I'd be next if Mario didn't stop." Rosalina nodded in understanding, but stopped - puzzled by something.

"Who's Mario?" she asked.

"Our brother!" Luigi quietly said, horrified that she could forget. "How on Earth could you forget?"

"We're not on Earth...," Rosalina responded, slowly remembering things of Brooklyn. "I doubt I could tell you much of anything except the here and now, only reason I remembered you. I don't even remember what my mother's name was." Luigi was shocked. How cruel was Rool. Then he realized it, the green on men and women aboard the ship, it was a rot. For one hundred years they would rot aboard his ship and slowly burn away, the few who could remember why they served in the first place would escape, but the others, the ones who would become the most cannibalistic and lizardish out of all of them, would stay. "So many here've joined the crew thinking they've cheated the powers, but they've entered oblivion - New York is a state in our world, right?" Luigi nodded and she continued talking. "Eventually, those not sadistic enough but not strong enough to remember'll end up like Dark Bones." She pointed to a mass of goop on the wall. In it lay a set of bones, like the ones Daisy had shown Luigi back when all of this was just beginning to start. His body was a part of the ship. "Until you can remember when your debt is paid, your a part of the ship. Not like me and uncle Bill - I think - maybe, why did you do it Luigi?"

"I don't owe Rool anything," Luigi said, pondering his sister's words.

"Then you've got to escape, it's too late for us!" his sister advised him. Luigi remembered when she was just a baby, the cutest thing he had ever seen. He shook his head, he had to focus at the task at hand.

"Not until I find this!" Luigi opened up the folding of the key. "This key leads to some chest belonging to Rool that I can use to save someone... maybe you." Rosalina had never seen it before and looked at it, amazed. Her green skin sparkled and Luigi wondered how long she had exactly been there.

"Dead Kremling's Chest!" groaned Dark Bones, with the picture of the key having had triggered some kind of memory in the skeleton's long lost brain. "Open the chest with a key. Stab the heart. Lose your heart. Gain a restriction. Or don't stab the heart. The Krock must always have a captain! Hidden key! Hidden Chest!" Luigi tried to make sense of this and for a second pondered what it meant. If by stabbing the heart one would lose their own heart, where did a restriction come into play and would the stabber become captain? Surely stabbing the heart would kill Rool and if so, couldn't the heart be used as blackmail? Slowly, Luigi began to see through Toadsworth's thinly veiled lies. "DON'T STAB THE HEART!"

"There is no key, can't be found, so there is no key," Rosalina reasoned.

"I'm sorry sister, but like I said, I don't need yer help," Luigi answered with a smile, formulating a plan.


End file.
